


Not all those who wander are lost

by Geektaire



Series: MacDixons [1]
Category: Boondock Saints (Movies), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Asexual Character, Boondock saints/the walking dead crossover, Canon Compliant, Demisexual Daryl Dixon, Multi, Polyamory, Season 3 AU, Season 3 rewrite, Slow Burn, ace MacManus brothers, walking saints
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-06-03 08:49:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 109,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6604465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geektaire/pseuds/Geektaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season 3 rewrite. </p><p>After being threatened at Hoag's Penitentiary, the MacManus brothers are transported to a prison in Georgia for their safety. No one could have known the turn their lives would take when a crazy group of people threw open the doors of the smelly cafeteria they had spent the last ten months stuck in. Suddenly the dead were still walking, they found someone who had the exact same face as Murphy and someone who knew exactly who they were?... Holy Mother of God indeed...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Seeds

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to [Dreamlikemusings](http://dreamlikemusings.tumblr.com/) for being a beta to chapter 1, and to [Onequearterbritish](http://onequarterbritish.tumblr.com/) for beta-ing the rest of the thing (or up to where I am so far). Thanks a lot guys.

Chapter 1

 Seeds

 

Chapter I - Seeds

They hadn’t been surprised when they’d been moved. The truth was, the brothers knew it had been just matter of time before their people on the outside did something about their current situation, and the first step had been to get them out of the Massachusetts area.

They had been sad to be separated from Romeo.  The Mexican would never take Rocco’s place, but they had gotten to know and care about him. He was better off without them, if not at least a lot safer. The first week they were in Hoag they had gotten into three fights, none of them truly started by them, or technically at least. They had been thrown into isolation, much to their chagrin. Murphy had been the one to take it harder than Connor, after practically having spent all of their lives next to each other, not being able to touch his twin every day had been hard. 

When the order to transfer them came in, they couldn’t have been happier. Away from Boston and a step closer to freedom, if they knew their companions. Georgia had never been a place they’d ever thought of visiting, too humid and sunny for the two Irishmen. But in Georgia they were, and in Georgia they would stay for a long time. 

They had been there for less than three months when the world went to hell. Since almost no one knew them there, they had been able to keep to themselves and stay somewhat together. They were not in the same cell, but at least the two of them could spend most of their time together during the day. 

When Connor came into cell block A, banging on the bars to wake his brother up, he was seriously freaking out. And that, in itself, had seriously started freaking out a recently awoken Murphy. When Killian, the guard they had somehow befriended over shared stories of their motherland, had rushed them to the cafeteria, together with some dumbass inmates, and told them to wait for him to come back, shit had gotten real. 

That had been almost a year ago. A year of surviving in that small enclosed space, of making plans and trying not to murder the bastards they were confined with. They knew Tomas and Andrew would have been victims of the ‘saints’ in another time, but after the shit Connor had seen, and the reaction those outside had whenever they even thought of getting out of there, they had decided to let them live. 

They kept to themselves mostly, Connor trying to calm Murphy half of the time, the younger twin’s anxiety getting the better of him sometimes. They prayed, they talked with each other, they waited. They knew something was coming, could feel it in their bones. Axel, Oscar and Big Tiny they tolerated, but more than once they had ended up needing to let off steam, and by letting off steam, they meant beating Tomas and Andrew to a pulp.

“It’s your fault,” Murphy muttered angrily as he dropped himself into the corner, sneering at the Mexican man as he tucked the only gun the seven of them had in the back of his jumpsuit. 

“My fault?” Connor answered, pushing Murphy away as he sat beside him. “It wasn’t me who thought it would be a good idea to start yet another fight.” He looked sideways as Murphy started biting his thumb. “Stop that,” he snapped, slapping his brother’s hand away from his mouth. 

“Fuck you,” Murphy muttered as he slapped his brother back, starting yet another scuffle between them. Connor would give him that.  If it meant his brother would feel better, he would get into as many fights as needed. 

A few minutes of them rolling on the ground like when they were kids, hitting wherever they were able to reach, passed before they both sat, backs against the wall, shoulder to shoulder again. “Something is going to happen,” Murphy muttered, looking at the rest of the inmates warily. 

“Feel it too,” Connor muttered, trying to make sense of the feeling in the middle of his chest. Something big was coming, soon, and all he could pray for was that his brother would remain safe. 

That night, huddled together in their corner, away from everyone else, something woke them up. It hadn’t been as strong as it had been back in that cell in Boston, but inside they knew it was going to be just as life changing. Shit was going to happen, and soon. 

They woke up the next day on their toes, with some kind of unspent nervous energy beating within them. Connor, as usual, was able to keep it more contained than Murphy, his brother walking around the cafeteria without being able to sit still for more than a minute at a time.

When the doors banged open, it was as though they had been put there for that reason only. While the rest of the inmates ran to hide in the pantry, the brothers immediately went to help the new arrivals secure the doors. They weren’t even sure the people had even noticed them, a black man trying to keep the doors closed with them, while the rest of them laid someone on the ground. 

“Hold him down! Alright. Only one way to keep him alive!” Connor turned to look over his shoulder as he heard one of them yell. He could see how the old man’s leg was bleeding profusely, and how one of them, a dark curly haired man, started to chop his leg off. 

“Fuck,” he muttered, catching Murphy’s eyes as they continued to keep the door closed against whatever the hell was out there. 

“Oh, he’s bleeding out.” Their attention was on the doors, as they continued to listen to the struggle from the people behind them as they tried to save the older man’s life.

“Duck!” Their immediate reaction was to lower their heads, both of them, without even knowing who was talking to whom. 

“Holy shit.”   



	2. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have another beta! Thanks a lot Steph for all the help!
> 
> And thanks guys for the kudos, hits and the comment! They mean a lot. I'm planning on posting a new chapter each Tuesday, I have already written up to chapter 6, but I don't want to end up with the pressure of you catching up with me, so it'll be once a week... k?
> 
> Also, it's the beginning of the road for them... be patient, there's a lot of dialogue that comes from the episode itself... just give it time...

Chapter II

Sick

 

Murphy groaned and slammed his head against the door he was helping the unknown black man and his brother keep closed. 

“Who the hell are you?!” A scruffy looking guy with a gruff voice demanded as he pointed his loaded crossbow at the bigger group, not noticing the two inmates at their back. 

“Who the hell are  _ you _ ?!” one of their fellow convicts answered back. Connor huffed as he kept on pushing against the door while those things tried to enter once again. 

“Who the fuck cares!” Murphy barked as he had to throw his weight against the door. The man with the crossbow tried to pretend he hadn’t been caught unguarded by the voice coming from behind him, but he was clearly on edge trying to keep all of them within his sights at all times. 

“He’s bleeding out; we gotta go back!” the man who had chopped the apparently bitten leg off yelled, starting to prepare to try and mobilize the older man. “Come around here! Put pressure on the knee! Hard! Hard!” The only woman among the group followed his orders immediately, her hands shaking as she tried to keep it together for the older man. Connor and Murphy shared a look, following the lead of the man they were standing guard with, as he slowly moved away from the now closed doors.

“He got bit.” Connor could see his brother pale slightly at the archer’s confession, turning to look at the now dismembered leg on the concrete floor. 

“Bit?” Both brother’s watched as Tomas brought out their gun, pointing it at the old man. Immediately, the apparently peaceful black man they were standing next to cocked his and pointed at the inmate. 

“What the fucking fuck,  _ pendejo _ ?” Murphy yelled at Tomas, moving towards him to try and get the gun back. 

“Back off!” the archer yelled at him without moving his crossbow from where it was pointed at the Mexican. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy now. Nobody needs to get hurt.”

Connor meanwhile had his eyes on the people trying to keep the old man alive.  The man with the dark curls barked orders at the girl  who was clearly trying to follow as much as she could. He watched silently as the Asian man moved to the room where the rest of the group had been hiding. “Do you have medical supplies?”

“Not here,” Connor said, moving slightly towards him, moving his hands up as he kept a wary  eye on the apparent leader who looked jumpy. “But the infirmary is close, I can show you where.”

The curly haired man moved to try and carry the pale looking old man.  Both Connor and Murphy moved to help only to stop when the archer moved his crossbow to them. “Just trying to help, lad, that’s all.”

“Don’t look like no rescue team,” Axel said, and Connor really felt like shooting him at that moment. 

“If a rescue team’s what you’re waiting for, don’t!” The apparent leader was clearly getting exasperated by the situation. “Come on, we gotta go! Now! Come on, I need a hand here!! One, two, three, go!” Between all of them, they put the injured man onto the improvised gurney. 

Connor caught the archer’s attention as he was still pointing at the inmates. “Where are you? We’ll go get medical supplies and meet you there.” The man gave him a side-eyed look before nodding slightly. As they started to open the door, they could hear the curly haired man yelling for the black man, apparently called T, to open the doors.  

“Cell block C.  You got a weapon?” At their negative, the scruffy-looking man took a knife from his belt, pushing it at them before running to catch up with his friends. 

“Let’s go,” Murphy said as he knelt to pick up a piece of some kind of metal pole.  Connor gave their companions over the last ten months a last look before he turned and followed his brother in the direction the strangers had gone off. 

“The infirmary is on the left at the next intersection,” Connor hurried to add as they caught up quickly to the group, raising his hands as the archer jumped and turned to point at them. “You go right and we go left, meet you there as soon as possible.” 

“The brain ... you need to hit them in the brain to stop them,” was the quiet advice he gave them before they separated. 

“What the fuck fucking fuck is going on here?” Murphy muttered at him as they moved quickly but surely towards the infirmary, keeping their backs to each other. 

“I have no fucking idea, brother,” Connor grimaced as he slammed the knife into one of those disgusting things as it appeared in front of him. “But that man needs help, and we’re going to help him.”

Murphy gagged as a corpse tried to take a bite out of him. “This is fucking rotten.” They continued to make their way towards the infirmary, letting out a sigh of relief as they saw the closed door getting closer and closer. “Be careful,” Murphy said softly as he felt Connor start to try and open the door. 

“It’s fucking locked, who the fuck locks this fucking thing in the middle of the fucking apocalypse.” Connor ranted madly as he pushed Murphy back so he was able to kick the door open. “Oh shite,” he yelled at a slightly higher pitch when one lonely walker suddenly threw itself at him. 

“What the fuck?” Murphy said looking over his shoulder to see his brother dropping the dead body, “Scarlet for ya, brother.”

“Shut up, ya windy fuck,” Connor muttered as they made it inside, closing the door behind them. They both started to look around for something to carry the supplies in, nothing obvious at first glance. “Use thisl” The pillowcase hit Murphy in the back of the head, the younger twin throwing his brother a look before opening it and starting to search through the medicine cabinets. “Alcohol, bandages, medical tape, syringes ... “ he muttered as he threw everything he could find inside the case. “How you doing Murph?”

“Can’t find antibiotics,” his brother’s voice was slightly panicky, and Connor, having finished his own search, moved to him. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Murphy glared at his brother when he knocked him in the side of the head. “Just throw the whole fucking lot in there, no time to window shop.” Between the two of them, they were able to almost empty the cabinets; the pillowcases were rather heavy and they just hoped they wouldn’t meet a lot of walkers on their way back.

.-..-.

“Hey, hey, hey!! Everyone relax, there’s no need for this.” The curly haired man, Rick as he had introduced himself to the inmates, said as he stood in the middle of the two groups. On one side, closer to the door they had just come in from, were the inmates; on the other, the archer, Daryl, and the black man, T-Dog. 

Tomas moved to try and get a look into the cell block, not lowering his gun. “How many of you in there?”

Daryl snarled at the man, taking a small step forward, threateningly. 

“Too many for you to handle.” Rick frowned when he only saw four guys behind Tomas. “Where are the other two?” Axel turned to look behind him, as if the Irishmen would suddenly appear out of thin air.

“They went to the infirmary,” Daryl answered instead, making eye contact with Rick before turning to look at the other men, not saying anything else. The tension was thick, and no one really trusted anyone else. They were making their way into the cellblock when they heard noises from the other end of it. 

“Bowman!” Connor’s voice rang out as they looked into the block from behind the closed door. A young boy in a sheriff’s hat looked at the two men warily from afar, his pistol trained on them. “Whoa there,” They both raised their arms up, showing they were unarmed. “No need for that.”

“Carl,” Rick’s voice made the boy roll his eyes before turning and moving to unlock the doorway leading to his father and the rest of the group. 

“Who are they?” the curious boy asked as he did so. 

“More inmates,” his father replied gruffly, striding across the cell block, knowing Daryl would remain at his back. The door was closed behind the three of them, effectively cutting off the rest of their unwanted guests from entering. 

“Would you mind not arsing around?,” Murphy barked as he looked warily behind them, “there’s some nasty things in here.” Rick reached them and begrudgingly opened the door for them, closing it right behind them to prevent a couple of walkers from getting in. “That was fucking close.”

Murphy looked back from the door only to have Daryl’s crossbow shoved to his face. “What the fuck?” T-Dog reached them, taking the pillowcases from them. “Is this the thanks we get?”

“A wee lad pointing his gun at us?” Connor added while looking warily at an armed Carl. 

“We have an arrangement with your people,” Daryl raised an eyebrow slightly when he heard Murphy mutter ‘not our people’. “We will help you clear another cellblock, and you will be allowed to stay here, while also giving us half of your food.” 

Tomas had apparently made a deal with the new people while they were away. Connor looked at his brother, nodded and shrugged, “That’s fair.” 

Rick looked slightly put out over the lack of a fight from them. He instead turned and started leading them out of the cellblock. “Don’t even look at them,” he muttered fiercely to the brothers as they made their way across the occupied cells. Of course neither of them actually listened, looking as a heavily pregnant lady and a gray haired woman with blood all over their hands as they did everything they could to try and save the amputated man. 

“I hope it helps him,” Murphy said softly as they waited behind Rick for the door to be opened. The leader tried not to react to the soft words spoken by the tattooed man. 

.-.-.

They joined the rest of the group, and together with the other men made their way back to the cafeteria. Connor couldn’t help but try and sneak glances at the man with the crossbow, the man with the face of his brother. He was sure Murphy had no idea of what was going on.  They had never been overly vain to have spent a lot of time in front of the mirror, but if there was one face on this earth he knew better than his own, it was his brother’s … and that man, he was identical up to the placement of the birthmark Murphy had beside his mouth. 

Before they entered the cafeteria, and as Daryl made space for them to pass, Connor leaned towards him and whispered, “Beware of Tomas, he’s unhinged.”  He saw how the other man flinched as he got too close, filing away the information for later use as well as the slight nod Daryl gave him in return. 

The brothers kept quiet as both groups bartered over the exact amount of food they’d be splitting, always staying within the eyesight of Daryl or T-Dog as they watched everything unfold. At the first sight of the group starting to split the food, they moved forward and offered to help. 

T-Dog smiled at them, passing them some of the sacks they would be taking back to their cellblock. Daryl scoffed at the black man, shaking his head as he followed them on point. 

.-.-.-

Rick looked at the brothers warily as they helped his people carry the food they were getting out of the deal. There was something familiar about them, but at the same time, not familiar at all. He sighed as he made his way into cellblock C to get an update on Hershel’s situation. 

He approached his wife at the opening of the cell, looking at the man lying pale and listless upon the bunk. “Any change?”

His wife looked up at him with so much pain in her eyes, pain he was in part a cause of which made him break eye contact with her immediately. “Bleeding is under control and no fever, but his breath is labored, his pulse is down and he hasn’t opened his eyes yet.” She gave him a sad smile which didn’t reach her eyes. “But there were special bandages which helped control the bleeding a lot better than we had been able to do, and we gave him antibiotics, so now we just have to wait.”

The sheriff sighed, looking around the small cell which had all kinds of medical supplies scattered around. “Take my cuffs, put them on him. I’m not taking any chances.” He gave them to Glenn, who reluctantly did as he was told. 

Lori looked on as she saw her husband rub his temples wearily, trying to make sense of what was going on. “So what about the prisoners?” Any topic was up for grabs, anything but their own relationship. She missed her husband with all of her heart. 

A headache was definitely on its way as he tried to work the problem over. “We’re gonna help them clear out their own cell block, and then they’ll be there, and we’ll be here.”

“Living beside each other.”

“I’m not giving up this prison.” Rick tried not to cringe at how those words came out.

“Do they have guns?”

“Only saw one. I don’t know if it’s gonna work …” He had to keep himself from trying to find some kind of solace in her arms.  They were too far from there now. 

“Well, what are your options?”

“Kill ‘em.” The Irishmen came to his mind.  They didn’t seem anything other than willing to help, but who knew why those two had been imprisoned. The risk was too great. 

“If that’s what you think is best.” At her words he felt like yelling, she had never had problems before telling him what she really thought, and now she was being slightly condescending and it was driving him mad. 

He chuckled nervously “I don’t know.  The Irishmen have been helpful, they were the ones who got Hershel what he needed.”

“Look, I know I’m a shitty wife, and I’m not winning any ‘mother of the year’ awards, but I need you to know not for one second do I think there’s malice in your heart. You’re not a killer, and I know that. I know that so… so do whatever you have to do to keep this group safe, and do it with a clear conscience.” He couldn’t do anything else but nod at her words; resentment was in his heart, but she knew him better than anyone else, and in the end, she was right.

It wasn’t until their half of the food was well in place inside their block that they started preparing to take back another of the cellblocks. The group in front of them was more than eclectic: two pasty white Irishmen, three black men going from huge as a brick house to even tinier than Carol, a white guy with a mustache probably older than Glenn and a Mexican who looked like he would murder them all the first chance he had. 

“Here.” Daryl jumped, startled as Connor moved beside him, the knife he had loaned him in his hand. He looked at the knife, before eyeing the man holding it. 

“Keep it,” Connor nodded, moving to stand between the archer and his brother as the rest of the inmates moved to pick up different types of weapons to use from the table in front of them. Murphy raised his bloodied pipe to show as T-Dog looked at him, shrugging as if to say he was good with it. 

“Why do I need this, when I’ve got this?” Tomas said, pulling out his gun and brandishing it around as if it was a toy. 

“That’s a five-shooter, you stupid motherfucker,” Murphy snarled, rolling his eyes at Tomas.  “This isn’t a fuckin movie where your fucking bullets never run out.” Connor laughed from besides his brother, raising an eyebrow as Tomas glared at them. 

“You don’t fire guns. Not unless your back’s up against the wall. Noise attracts them, really riles them up,” Daryl’s calm raspy voice added, looking around the circle, measuring each of the men in front of him. His eyes lingered on Tomas a tad longer, keeping Connor’s words at the forefront of his mind.

“We’ll go in two by two. Daryl will run point with T, I’ll bring up the rear with you,” Rick started explaining, pointing at Andrew since he was apparently the weakest link. “Stay tight, hold formation, no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down; anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head.” 

“And that’s where you aim. These things only go down with a headshot.” The brothers moved to stand closer to each other, the feeling of the other bringing them calm as Daryl finished the explanation.

“Ain’t gotta tell us how to take out a man.” Murphy snickered at the Tomas’ sneering tone, giving the man a big smile when he glared at him. 

“They ain’t men. They’re something else.” The room seemed to have dropped in temperature as Daryl said those words.  They were a long way from what was normal now. 

The twins regarded the rest of their companions as they all paled slightly.  Something was going to happen, and soon. “Just remember ... go for the brain.” With those words Rick motioned for Daryl and T-Dog to start their advance, and two by two everyone else followed behind. 

The first few corridors were empty of moving walkers, all those in there already down by their hand when they’d moved back and forth from the cafeteria. Both Murphy and Connor waited to let Tomas pass in front of them, being the last couple before Rick and Andrew. It wasn’t until later, at Daryl’s signal, they started to slow down as they approached one of the uncharted corridors, silently waiting to see what they would find ahead.  

“Man, it’s too damn dark in here!” Big Tiny complained as they tried to look ahead, the meager illumination their flashlights gave in the darkness of the prison not being enough. 

“Gotta hold it up high out in front of you.” Daryl demonstrated as he kept his crossbow pointed ahead at all times. “You’re gonna hear ‘em before you see ‘em.” As he said that, a shuffling sound could be heard coming from up ahead, behind the open doors in front of them. Murphy and Connor could feel as the group started to fidget around them, nervous tension palpable in the musty air.

“It’s coming!!” Axel practically yelled as the sound came closer, the older man clearly shaking. He was shushed immediately by Daryl, and Connor was impressed by how the man looked and sounded like his twin at that exact moment. 

A few walkers moved into their vision, and before anyone said anything and disregarding the words from Rick and Daryl, the prisoners charged recklessly into the middle of the fray. The Irishmen stood behind, together with the rest of the group, looking astonished as the men hit and slammed the walkers everywhere except where they had been advised to. “Fucking tools,” Connor muttered to his brother, elbowing him as they watched the scene in front of them. 

They heard as Daryl let an annoyed sigh before opening his mouth to yell at the mess before him. “It’s gotta be the brain!” He released an arrow straight into a walker’s head, “Not the stomach, not the heart, the brain!”

More walkers arrived, making everyone finally jump in and help. T-Dog rapidly found that he had his back covered by the Irishmen, working alongside them as Rick and Daryl continued to try and make the prisoners kill the walkers. 

At Rick’s yell to go back to formation, the brothers and T-Dog followed through, taking down walkers left and right, not noticing how Big Tiny seemed to back himself into a corner. It wasn’t until the first shot rang out, as the walkers were finally thinning out that they realized what had happened. 

“I’m telling you! I don’t feel anything, it’s just a scratch!” Big Tiny wailed as everyone turned to look at him, the pity in Rick’s face obvious. 

“I’m sorry man …”

“I can keep fighting!” Daryl moved slightly forward, almost knocking elbows with the twins as he saw the inmate take a step closer to their leader, pleading for his life. As if they had the power to undo whatever fate was to befall him. 

Andrew jumped right in, the small man talking a mile a minute. “You cut that old guy’s leg off to save his life!”

The look on Rick’s face didn’t change, it might have even turned more pitiful. “Look at where the bite is!” His voice said it all. It was done.

“Guys, I’m fine!! Just … I’m fine. Look, look at me, I’m not changing into one of those things.” They could hear the panic in Big Tiny’s voice, and it hurt. They might not have been best friends with those guys, but they had been together for over ten months. 

Oscar, always the logical one, who tried more than once to keep the peace between the brothers and Tomas, came to Big Tiny’s defense. “Look, man, there’s gotta be something we can do.  We could just lock him up!”

“Quarantine him!” Daryl groaned silently as Axel yet again raised his voice, turning to look at the door the walkers had just came from, remaining prepared for anything. 

“We gotta do something! Why are you just standing there, we gotta save him!!” 

Connor shook his head as he saw Murphy open his mouth to say something.  There was no point in doing so. If those men said there was nothing else to do, he believed them. He motioned with his head towards Daryl, following him towards where he was standing guard.

They stood silently next to the archer, bodies tense as the argument continued at their backs. “Can’t let your guard down,” Daryl whispered to them. “That’s how mistakes happen, and you make a mistake, you die.” He hadn’t finished talking when the sound of a disgusting crunch, together with T-Dog’s sharp intake of breath made them turn around quickly; only to see the dark haired man smashing his friend’s skull with a hammer.

“Unhinged,” Murphy muttered , raising his eyebrows at Daryl as they turned to continue. That man was trouble, and they really didn’t want him to cost them their lives. They moved ahead, the mood clearly a lot different after the incident. Daryl gave a nod to T-Dog as he pulled back to wait for Rick to catch up.

“You see the look on his face?” He made a small motion towards Tomas, not allowing him out of his sight. “The leprechauns think he lost it”

“He makes one move …” was the muttered words of Rick as they continued on their way.

“Just give me a signal.”

Walkers were put down as they continued further into the prison, closer to the wing where the other cell block was situated. Soon, they arrived at a room with double doors, which they knew meant the cell block was just behind it. Daryl motioned towards the doors to Tomas, throwing him the keys in his hands. 

“I ain’t opening that,” the man sneered at them.

Rick shared a look with Daryl, before looking at him again. “Yes, you are. If you want this cell block, you’re gonna open that door. Just the one, not both of them. We need to control this.” Walkers could be heard behind the doors; they had obviously heard them by then. The scraping of their hands on the metal making the hairs on their arms stand. 

“You bitches ready?” Tomas sneered at them as he put the key in and tried to open it, grunting when it wouldn’t bulge. “I got this.” He muttered as he planted himself and pulled harder, opening both of the doors at the same time, and letting all of them in at once. 

“He said one door, fuckwit!” Murphy yelled as he speared the walker closest to him in the eye with his pipe. 

“Shit happens!” Tomas yelled back as they continued to stab the walkers. Connor and Murphy kept side by side, tag teaming the walkers as they came at them. From the side of his eye, Connor saw Tomas taking a swing at Rick, just before pushing the next walker right on him. 

Connor moved quickly, stabbing the walker that had the policeman on the floor in the back of the head before turning and going back to help his brother. The walkers began to clear.  Once they were  all dead, they finally turned to look at Rick who was sitting on the floor, the front of his shirt soaked in thick dark blood. 

“He was coming at me, bro!” Tomas said, a mocking smile on his face as he watched the man start to stand up. He turned,  smiling at the twins who just glared at him. 

“Yeah … Yeah, I get it. I get it. Shit happens.” Rick muttered, looking at his left, just before slamming his machete over Tomas’ head. 

“No!” Andrew yelled as he came at Rick with his bat, getting a kick in the stomach for his trouble. Daryl immediately pointed his crossbow at him. 

“Easy now.” Daryl said to him, following him with his eyes as the man took off down a corridor with Rick at his heels. 

“We don’t have no affiliation to what just happened!” Axel said, his arms up.  He watched as Daryl moved to point his crossbow at him and Oscar. 

“Shut the fuck up, Axel,” Connor said as they stood in front of the two men. Daryl nodded at him as he continued to keep them at gunpoint.  It wasn’t long before Rick returned, panting slightly, but without the smaller black man. 

“We didn’t have nothing to do with that,” Oscar said as soon as the man entered the room. 

“You didn’t know? You knew! Daryl, let’s end this now!” Rick motioned to Daryl to come forward, Axel and Oscar moving back, their hands up. 

“We told you he was unhinged,” Murphy said, trying to move closer to the other two inmates, slowly making his way into Rick’s eyesight. He pulled his hands up as the man moved his gun to his face. 

“Sir, please, please listen to me!! It was them that was bad! It wasn’t us!” Connor rolled his eyes as Axel pleaded to them. “You saw what he did to Tiny!! He was my friend!! Please!! We ain’t like that!! I like my pharmaceuticals, but I’m no killer! Oscar here, he’s a B and E and he ain’t very good at it neither! We ain’t the violent kind, they were! Please!! Please, I swear to god!! I wanna live!” He was almost pissing himself as he pleaded to Rick, who had moved his gun back to his face.

“What about you?” Rick moved his gun to Oscar, who in difference to Axel stood his ground and looked at him right in the eyes. 

“I ain’t never pleaded for my life. And I ain’t about to start now. So you do what you gotta do.”

Rick chuckled, turning to look at the other two prisoners. “Now you’re going to tell me you were just innocent men, wrongly convicted?”

“You are good men, we’re not afraid, our actions speak louder than anything we could have ever said.” Rick eyed the two brothers, who were standing shoulder to shoulder and lowered his gun. 

“Get in there,” he pointed towards the now cleared cell block. “There’s the end of our deal.” The four men walked into the space, wincing at the amount of bodies littered everywhere. 

“Oh man! I knew these guys; they were good men.” Axel sighed as he looked on, dropping his head as he did so. 

Rick signaled T-Dog and Daryl to follow him out, giving the place a last look as they did so. Connor and Murphy nodded to them as they walked past them. Connor’s eyes were on Daryl, sure there was something else going on there, and there was no way he was going to let this go on without figuring it out. 

 

 

 


	3. The Killer Within

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys, we're getting a little more non canon scenes in this one. This is also the longest one up to date, hope you like it. Also, got a big favor to ask. I've been suffering from writer's block when it comes to the story, idk why if it's cause my new job it's just mentally exhausting or what but I've seem to have hit a wall. I'm currently writing chapter 7 (episode 8) and I'm struggling a lot. 
> 
> So I'm up to ideas how to deal with this, if you feel like talking headcanons, small prompts of situations with the MacDixons, etc... feel free to drop by my tumblr.

Chapter III

The killer Within

 

The last rays of light were just disappearing behind the trees when Carol opened the door to the tower closest to the prison. She took a deep breath as she reached the top, overlooking the now walker free yard. Their first full day in the prison had been spent getting rid of the corpses as best as they could, piling them up on one side so they could burn them later on. 

Now in possession of their own cells, or perch as Daryl refused to step into the cells themselves, it seemed like things were starting to look up. With Hershel and Lori out for obvious reasons, the watch had to be divided among the six left that were able to handle guns. Daryl had given her a small smile as she fought over her right to be part of the guard rotation; he was proud of her, and she was going to be forever grateful to him for teaching her how to defend herself. 

She leaned against the rail as she continued to let her eyes roam over the scenery. The night shifts were divided into threes, so each had a little over three hours each before someone else took over. She had first shift, followed by T-Dog and Daryl at last; with a change in the lineup the night after the next when they were back on. A movement to her right made her turn and raise her rifle, only to breathe out as she saw it was one of the inmates moving closer to the inside fence. The man noticed her movement, raising his hand in greeting to which she just gave him a nod and moved her rifle from him. 

The men staying in the other cell block caused some mixed feelings in her, she knew from what the others said that they apparently weren’t in there because of violent crimes; and that two of them had helped them quite a lot, but she hadn’t had any contact with them and she was willing to leave it at that. Her experiences with the male gender hadn’t been the best and she was not willing to risk it; as strong as she had become, the scars would always be there. 

A few minutes passed before she looked back at where the man had been, only to find him still there, standing looking at the yard not moving from there at all. Not giving him any more thoughts she turned back to the matter at hand, keeping a tally of the amount of walkers she saw approach the fence during the time she was there as well as to try to see a pattern to their movements. The sunlight was completely gone, the only light coming from the almost full moon, when she once again looked at the old watch Ed had gifted her, only to see that two hours had already passed. 

She frowned when she turned and saw that the man was still in the same place she had seen him at from the beginning, a lit cigarette on his mouth by the looks of it. Curiosity got the best out of her when she moved to put the gun at her back and decided to climb down from the tower and approach him. 

Murphy had been sick and tired from being inside, the last ten months in that cafeteria had taken a lot out of him and just the feel of the walls and bars made his skin crawl. They had spent most of the day cleaning and moving bodies to try and make at least part of the cell block habitable, to minimize the stench of death and rotten all around. Connor had almost fallen asleep the moment he had crawled into the lower bunk, but he hadn’t been able to stay still. 

After letting his brother know he needed to get out, he grabbed one of the used packs of cigarettes they had found while scavenging the dead and walked out of the cell block to where he knew the inside courtyard was. The moment he was out, and he was able to breathe fresh air, the oppressive feeling in his chest let out. He walked around, moving until he was by the fence and just rested his head against it, breathing as deep as he could. 

He saw movement from the side of his eyes, turning to see someone up the watch tower with a rifle pointed at him. He couldn’t do anything but raise a hand in acknowledgment and pray to the Virgin Mary and Saint Patrick he didn’t get his ass shot at, his brother would hate if something happened to him. 

After that, he just let the breeze caress his skin as he lit  one smoke after another. He wasn’t even processing how long he had been there, but he just knew he wasn’t willing to go back in yet. The sound of a metal door closing made him focus to something on his left, only to see who he had waved at from the tower exit it. 

It was a woman, he hadn’t been able to tell from the low light and the distance at first. It was the gray haired lady that had been trying to save the old man the day before. As she approached him, he moved to offer her his almost finished pack of cigarettes. 

“What are you doing here?” Carol asked as she saw the man take another cigarette and put it into his mouth. 

“I just needed a smoke, love,” he smiled at her with the cigarette in his mouth.

“You’ve been here for the past two hours,” she had a no nonsense attitude that he couldn’t help but find amusing, not letting it show though, contrary to his brother’s opinion, he wasn’t stupid. He just shrugged, taking another long breath watching her as he did so. 

“Just don’t start any trouble,” she muttered, turning to look at the yard. The first thing she had noticed, and that she was seriously going to talk to Daryl about, was how much he looked like the hunter. He had the same haircut Daryl had had when they first met; she couldn’t be sure but she was almost sure their blue eyes were the same shade, and they even had the same cute birthmark at the left side of their mouth. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, ma’am,” she could hear the teasing in his words, and she tried without success to keep the small smile from reaching her mouth. Murphy turned to look up front too, she had a pretty smile and he just knew it wouldn’t be long before he tried to make her smile again. “Name’s Murphy,” he said, still looking ahead.

“Carol,” she answered frowning slightly as he pulled the gun strap higher up her shoulder from where it was threatening to slip. They stood there in silence for a couple of minutes, close but not too close. “Don’t do anything stupid,” Carol muttered as she gave him a last look and turned her back on him to return to the watchtower. 

It wasn’t until the door didn’t slam behind her that she turned and noticed he was following her. Her hand tightened in the strap, ready to pull the gun to her if he tried anything. “Just liked the company,” he said, looking up where she was already up a couple of steps in the stair and grinning at her. Carol stared at him, that was one expression she couldn’t say she had seen in Daryl’s face before, the man barely smiled after all and she wondered if her friend’s eyes would sparkle with mirth like this man’s in front of her were doing at that same moment. She rolled her eyes and turned to continue her way up.

Murphy continued to grin as he walked behind her, his eyes never leaving her backside as she climbed the stairs ahead of him. He was a good guy, and he wasn’t interested in sex, but that didn’t mean he was blind to what was aesthetically pleasing. He moved and sat down, his legs dangling from the edge. He patted the place besides him, looking up at Carol, raising his eyebrows up and down. 

With a sigh Carol shook her head and pulled the strap of the rifle from around her shoulders as she sat beside him, not as close as he had motioned her to but he took it like a win anyway. The lowest bar of the banister stood at just the right height for him to push his chest against it and let his arms hang in front of it. “What are you really doing out here?” Her voice broke the relative silence around them, loud among the sounds of animals and walkers far below them. 

“We were inside there for over ten months,” he could feel her eyes on him, looking for something he wasn’t quite sure what it was. “No fresh air, no sun in our skin, no fresh running water, just the seven of us in a really limited amount of space.” He turned to her, trying not to smile as she startled and looked away, he would bet she was blushing at that same moment. “Being in there,” he motioned with his head towards the buildings behind them, “is just too much, when I could be out here.”

“It’s safer in there though,” he nodded at her words solemnly, “you have no idea how it is out there right now.”

“I’m lucky in a way, I guess,” he chuckled, “all I care about was in there with me all along.”

“Your family?”

“Pa died about four years ago, ma followed him two years after,” he shrugged and gave her a small smile when she looked at him with compassion. “All I have in the world is my brother, Connor, and he’s here with me, so…” 

“You are lucky then,” there was something lurking behind her words, and the way she tensed as he talked about his family, but he was not going to push she would tell him if she felt like it. “Out there, out there is just a nightmare.”

“You been around then?”

“We were close to Atlanta at first, we had to leave and then,” something in her changed as she continued her tale, becoming somehow painfully vulnerable  yet strong and he couldn’t help but be attracted to it. “Then we went to a farm not too far from here, but we had to leave, a herd came and ran us out, that was like seven months ago.  We’ve just been surviving since then.”

He nodded, taking his cigarette and throwing the filter away once he made sure it was out. “And now? I believe you are planning to stay here?”

“Now?” there was a bittersweet smile in her face as she answered his question, “we’re hoping we get to live, not just survive.” She chuckled at those words, feeling silly for sounding somehow optimistic, “if not for us then for Carl, Beth and Lori- she needs somewhere safe to give birth.”

“The wee lad that pointed the gun at me and my brother?” He remembered the kid, he was something else for sure. 

“Don’t let him hear you call him that, he’ll throw a fit,” she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the boy’s indignation at being pointed out by his size. 

“Hey,” Carol said after they both had fallen silent for a little while, “thank you.”

At Murphy’s confused face she continued, “I know it was you and your brother who went to the infirmary for what we needed to save Hershel, if it wasn’t for all the things you brought back I’m not sure he would have made it.”

“He’s good?” They had been sent to their own cell block like scolded school children and hadn’t had any other contact with the other group since the day before, so those were the first news he had heard about the old man. 

“He’s still in pain, and weak, but he’s going to make a full recovery; thanks to you.”

“Just did what any good catholic would have done.” Carol shook her head, what was it with these good men and not being able to accept compliments? They had just done it, no questions asked. They didn’t even know the man and they had gone and faced those things to try and help him. 

The rest of her shift continued the same way, surprisingly the conversation was easy with this man who she hadn’t personally known more than two hours before. And yet, it was easier to talk with him than to almost anyone she had met before. He started to yawn more frequently as the time passed, up until when she couldn’t help but chuckle at his barely open eyes looked at her. 

“Go to sleep,” she muttered as she shook her head. “You’re going to fall from here, and what would I tell your brother?”

“When are you on watch again?” His question as he pulled himself up startled her slightly. She had had fun while keeping watch, but to have someone ask to properly join her? To waste their time to do so? 

“Day after tomorrow, I start at midnight.” At her words, and with a smirk in his face, Murphy waved at her as she saw him disappear down the stairs and on his way back to his cell block. Carol couldn’t help but laugh softly as she waited for the rest of her shift to pass, to wait until it was time for her to make her way inside and wake T-Dog. There was just something so intriguing but at the same time so familiar about Murphy, and she couldn’t help but wanting to find out what it was. 

.-.-.

When Murphy finally arrived back to the cell he shared with his brother, he was dragging his feet in tiredness. He couldn’t believe how easy had been to talk to Carol, how she had a capacity to make him feel if not safe, at least like he could actually talk to someone other than his brother. Connor was sprawled out in the bottom bunk, and seeing as the top bunk wasn’t made he just sighed and after dropping his undershirt in the chair they had dragged into the cell, he jumped over his brother to the space he had left in between the wall and him. “Fuckin Conn,” he muttered as he pushed his brother so he could half lay on the bunk under him, he rolled his eyes as he moved just a little bit, “serves you right asshole.” 

When Connor woke up as the first rays of light hit the windows in their cellblock, the first thing he realized was the fact that he could barely feel his left arm, and then the fact that it felt like a sack of potatoes was lying over his back. He groaned as he moved, scoffing as he realized the reason for that was that Murphy had fallen asleep over him, again. 

Slowly he moved from under his brother, shaking his arms as it started to hurt once the circulation was back on. His brother had always done this, ever since they were little kids. Half of the time their mam would walk into their room to find a bed empty and the younger twin just lying all over him. With a last look at his sleeping brother he turned and made his way out of their cell, stretching as he did so. 

No one else was up yet, it was quite early if he was honest. They had somehow always been like this, Murphy a night owl and him up at the brink of dawn. They were so different but at the same time they fit so well together that he truly didn’t know what he would do if anything ever happened to him. He sighed as he rested against the top floor banister, looking down at his hands. Before they went into jail he could have had counted the nights they had spent apart with just one hand, those MacManus boys always attached to the hip. When they had chosen to keep them separated as a way of punishment while in maximum security, that in itself being worse than in solitary or any other world comforts was what had been the biggest punishment. 

He looked back into the cell as he heard his brother groan as he started to wake. Murphy had always hated being cooped inside for too long, that and being in any kind of restraints, making it even harder for him during the ten months they had been stuck inside that cafeteria. He wanted to lash out at that asshole Rick for locking them up in that part of the prison, but at least they weren’t back at the cafeteria. 

“Morning,” Murphy said as he left the cell, barefoot and without a shirt while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes made him look so much younger than they actually were. They didn’t know who was older than who, they suspected their mother never really knew either, but he had always felt a compelling need to look after him, to look after his ‘little brother’, that he didn’t really understand. And now, now there was that other man who bore his sweet brother’s face that he just couldn’t help but wonder about. 

“Morning fuckwit,” he put his arm around his brother’s back hugging him to him. “At what time did you came to sleep?” His back stiffened at his words, and he couldn’t help but turn to give him his full attention. 

“Morning folks,” Axel’s voice said from the ground floor, looking up at them as he moved into their line of vision, “should we go get something to eat?” he asked motioning towards the corridor that would take them back to the cafeteria where what they had of food was at. 

“Later,” Murphy said softly as he moved around Connor back into their cell, coming back with his shirt on as well as passing him their weapons before moving to the stairs with a spring in his step he hadn’t seen in some time. 

“Food, Oscar, food!” Connor yelled as he followed suit. Oscar was also exiting his room as they started moving out. Their third day out of there and they still had a lot of work to do to make their part of the prison somewhere they could live in, but they were Irish so they sure weren’t afraid of hard work.

It wasn’t until later on the day, when they were actually getting things set up before going to bed when they were able to talk again without the other two inmates overhearing them. They had spent most of their morning pulling more dead bodies from the lower levels towards the back of the prison, where they had found an enclosed yard that had seemed safe enough to burn the bodies. The brothers were good people, but they weren’t as good as to say they didn’t quickly think of something else that needed to be done to get out of burning duty. 

After having a lunch which they had to explain to Axel why they still had to ration even if they had more space now, they worked on scavenging the unused cells, solitary and offices that were in their part of the buildings. In the end they had found even more cigarettes which they had been able to keep since neither Oscar nor Axel smoked, and other goods that they had divided among the four of them evenly. 

Connor pushed Murphy away as his brother made to lay down in his bunk once again, pointing at the apparently clean linens they had found at his annoyed face. “C’mon,” Murphy whined as he moved to pick up the linens, “why don’t you want to share now?”

“Because I woke up with a sack of potatoes with a hard on lying over me.” 

“I didn’t have a hard on,” Murphy muttered as he pushed Connor away and dropped himself in the cot, grinning at him as he sprawled himself in it. The older MacManus couldn’t help but laugh and he pushed his brother towards the wall, as he tried to find a comfortable position in a place that was clearly not made for two grown men to share. “I didn’t,” he repeated as he elbowed his twin in the side as they continued to try and find a comfortable way to share the small space. 

“I’m not going to be the little spoon,” Connor hissed as Murphy turned on his side, “I mean it when I said I don’t want your hard on poking at me in the morning.” 

Murphy finally found a position he didn’t hate, putting his head in his brother’s shoulder. “That happened once,” he said as he rolled his eyes.

“Once too many,” Connor couldn’t help but smile slightly as they laid there in the dark. This was what felt right. They had always been closer than average, and he had always thought it had to do with being twins. It felt like they both were just a part of a whole, although he had to be honest when he said there was something missing there, always. “Hey Murph?” his brother only made a hmm noise waiting for him to continue. “Did you see the guy with the crossbow yesterday?”

“Yeah,” he could hear his brother’s confusion at the question. “What about him? Daniel? Or something with D…”

“Daryl,” he closed his eyes as he tried to get the courage to continue the conversation. “Did you noticed anything about him?” Connor just felt as his brother rose to look down on him, even if they were basically submerged in darkness at the time. 

“You fancy him? Him?” Connor groaned at his brother’s words, only to huff as the younger twin dropped himself back to where he had been without a care in the world. “I mean he might have some kind of rugged red neck thing going…” he didn’t let his brother finish his sentence, shoving him against the wall with an annoyed grunt as the other man busted into laughter

“I meant on the fact that the bastard looks exactly like you!” he hissed as his brother tried to calm himself down.

“No he doesn’t!” Murphy said, and Connor could picture his face perfectly even in the darkness. The fact was that he had thought it through the last 24 hours, and the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced there was something else there. It couldn’t be a coincidence that someone looked so much like his brother and not be related to them? It would be too much. 

“Murphy,” he felt his brother stiffen besides him. He usually used his full name together with that tone when something was important, and his brother knew this. “I know you, probably better than I know myself,” he made a pause, letting those words sink in. Murphy knew it was the truth, he knew his brother better than he knew himself, he knew every single gesture, movement, and sound that he made like something deep inside himself since birth, so he knew his brother was telling the truth. “And I’m telling you, if it wasn’t because of the tattoos, or the hair, and well if we had spent some more time outside, even I couldn’t be able to tell you two apart.”

“But how?”

“I have no idea, sweet brother, I have no idea.”

.-.-.-.-.-

The next day was almost a carbon copy of the day before: carry, burn, scavenge, repeat. The only thing different was the humor among the inmates. Everyone was more quiet, everyone was more on edge and it was noticeable. It wouldn’t be long before they either tried to get out, to the yard that was within the other group’s space, or start something among them. 

After a day of hard work, a horrid dinner since it had been Oscar’s turn and the mountain of a man had no idea of what was usually considered edible, and progressively seeing his brother get more anxious, Connor had barely fallen asleep when he was jostled by his brother moving over him to get out. His hand moved in reflex, grabbing Murphy’s wrist in it. “Where you going?” he groggily asked as his brother tried to get him to let go.

“I need a smoke,” Murphy muttered, and Connor immediately knew he was not being told the whole truth. He moved to copy his brother’s actions, trying not to smile at his brother’s annoyed demeanor as he did so. 

“I want one too,” was all he said as he followed him out. There was something else going on there, and he intended to find out. He hadn’t forgotten that his brother still owed him an explanation, somehow left aside after they talked about their more important issues the night before. Murphy shot him a glare as if to dare him to say anything as they moved through the dark corridors, lighten only by the moonlight streaming in from the bare windows. 

When they reached what he knew Rick considered their territory, and which he also recognized as the way out he grabbed his brother’s arm. He had enough light to see his brother’s face, seeing him give him a small smile and a nod, letting him go and continued to follow him. The moment they reached the outside, he shuddered. The night was considerable cooler than the inside, he felt slightly dizzy as the smell of fresh air hit him in the face. 

He didn’t have a lot of time to get used to it, following Murphy as he made his way through the courtyard, under the moonlight. He noticed his brother kept looking at an old watch he had found and pocketed the day before, walking like he knew perfectly where he was going. He accepted a cigarette as his brother stopped by the metallic fence and lit up one for himself, doing the same for his. “Come on,” Murphy muttered around his cigarette, starting to make his way to the watchtower closest to them, opening the door and going up the stairs without waiting for his brother knowing he was barely a step behind him. 

“I thought you weren’t going to show up,” a voice Connor didn’t recognize said as his brother hit the last step, making him stop barely in time to avoid crashing into him. 

“Who do you take me for lass? I always fulfill my promises,” his voice was a mix between humorous and flirty, and Connor was interested by that. “I brought a tag along, hope you don’t mind.” It wasn’t until then that Murphy finally moved and allowed him to reach the top, finally being able to lay eyes on the person his brother was apparently visiting at those unholy hours of the night.

“Connor,” Murphy’s voice brought him back to the present, from where he had been staring at the gray haired beauty sat in the floor of the outside of the tower, her feet hanging as she looked onto the field around the prison. “This is Carol, Carol,” he said as he sat down beside her, closer than he had done the last time he had done that, “that’s my twin brother, Connor.” 

.-.-.

Two nights later, the twins found themselves once again up in the watchtower keeping Carol- who they now could probably call their friend- company as she kept guard. The night before last had started a little awkwardly, since neither Connor nor Carol had expected to meet each other at that time. But just as it had happened the time before, in no time the three of them had been talking and exchanging stories like old friends. 

The brothers had by some means slipped through Carol’s walls, and somehow she was glad for that. They reminded her of Daryl, and not only because of the obvious reasons. Murphy was still her favorite though, the Daryl look alike had brought her a chocolate bar he had apparently scavenged that day from somewhere on their side of the prison. The three of them had shared it and laughed about it. 

It also helped the fact that she knew who they were. This night they were again sitting on the ledge, one brother at each of her sides. It was colder than the other nights, having rained a couple of hours before, and they had used that as the perfect excuse to sit even closer to her than they had dared the time before. It was just about an hour before her watch was over when she decided to confess to them, after all, friendship was about honesty… wasn’t it?

“Your secret is safe with me; you know?” Carol said, knocking her shoulder slightly to Connor’s with a small smile in her face. 

“What secret, love?” Carol couldn’t help but turn and look at Murphy, her gaze leaving him immediately for the yard that was at least now free of rotten bodies. The fact that his face was so alike her friend’s still freaked her out slightly. 

“That you’re the saints,” she felt as both brothers tensed at the same time, like even then they were connected. 

“Do you reckon we’re what?” Connor’s voice was slightly higher than usual, and Murphy tried to hide his nervousness with patting down his chest as if he was looking for his cigarettes.

“The saints of Boston,” she chuckled, turning to look at Connor, blue eyes meeting blue eyes. “69 confirmed kills, over 8 years although it was more of two episodes 8 years apart.” The brothers were as tense as she thought they could ever be, Murphy started to tap the bar in front of them softly with his fingers. “In a maximum security prison, transferred to Georgia correctional without a real cause other than protection because all those that they killed were people deep into mob business.”

“Us? You got it wrong lass,” Murphy was biting his thumb, his voice muffled by it. 

“It’s the tattoos,” she brushed a finger against Connor’s Mary Magdalene in his neck, her eyes bright with mirth at how he shuddered at the contact. “And Murphy does look a whole lot like the sketch the police made of him.” Murphy dropped his head groaning, his ears reddening slightly. “To be honest,” she continued, turning to look to the front again once more, “the first time I saw Daryl, I had to do a double take.”

“We don’t look that much alike,” Murphy moodily muttered not clear if he was talking about the sketch or the archer, frowning even more when he felt more than heard, her chuckle. 

“And, if our story was popular even here,” Connor said, rolling his eyes at his brother’s reaction, “what secret is there to keep?”

“It wasn’t that popular,” Carol confessed as she looked down at her hands, “I mean, I don’t believe it was, we’re a long way from Boston.”

“Then?” Connor gave his brother a look over Carol’s head at the tone he used, a mix between flirting and cautious. “How is it that you know? That you remember such details?”

“I was in Boston,” she made a pause and took a deep breath, “when you guys killed that guy in front of the judge, and I guess the story just stuck into my mind.” She was clearly lying, both of them could see from the way she tensed as if expecting the worse.

“Alright,” Murphy said softly, his hand moving to grasp one of hers softly. Carol looked down at where his hand was covering hers, and something just felt so right about it that she couldn’t explain it. This man, a man who had killed more people that she could even begin to comprehend was so tender with her, his touch, the few times he had touched her since they met less than a week before had been something she was not used to from any men. Sure, it wasn’t like Rick, Hershel, Daryl or T-Dog ever hurt her, but their touch was always practical, maybe a pat in the back or something like that to show companionship. But touch like this? To try and make her feel better? The attempt at a massage Daryl had tried to give her a few days ago was the first soft touch she had felt in a long while.  

Carol turned and gave Connor a sad smile, the younger man could see tears starting to shine in her eyes. “The truth is,” her voice broke, she cleared her throat to be able to continue, “I was in the hospital in Boston, recuperating from surgery I had needed because my husband had thrown me down the stairs.” Murphy’s hold in her hands tightened slightly as he processed her words. “I remember thinking that if only someone like that would come for me, I had a one-year-old baby and I was all alone there, I just wished someone like that would have come and just killed him.”

She chuckled, releasing one of her hands to try and get rid of the couple of tears that had tried to escape her eyes. “Once we were back here in Georgia, after 2007, I had the courage to call the police and press charges.  I even went to an abused women safe house in Atlanta, but he got out on bail the day after and forced me to drop them. I was terrified of him so I did. We moved away and at the first chance he got, he landed me in the hospital for a week.” Connor could see his brother’s expression and he was glad her husband was not there with them, because he was sure he would have beaten him to death. “It’s stupid, I guess.” Connor shook his head, turning his body towards her slightly. “I basically read everything about you guys, and just kept paying attention whenever your names were mentioned.”

Silence followed her confession, as the three of them tried to process what had happened. She couldn’t explain how had it been that she had been able to open up about this to two basically strangers when it had taken a lot more to do so towards the Greene family. “Is he dead?” Connor asked softly as his left hand moved to lay on her knee. Carol grimaced and nodded; and without really meaning to started tracing the words tattooed in it.  _ Veritas _ . Truth.

“Walkers?” Murphy added, his eyes focused on the side of the face of the incredible woman that sat between them. She nodded again, and she didn’t need to say anything else. The sun started to come out, painting their view in oranges and reds. They knew they would have to move soon, her shift was almost over and they knew the rest of their group were not exactly welcoming them with open arms. But they could stay a little while longer keeping her company, and so they did. 

.-.-.-

The sun hit them in the eyes directly for the first time in a week and they couldn’t help but sigh. It had taken them seven days, that was it. The four of them, together, had taken the determination that they couldn’t stay in their part of the prison exclusively any longer. Yes, it was a bigger place than the cafeteria, but the feeling was somehow the same. 

In honesty, the brothers had been able to handle seven days just because they had been able to sneak out to see Carol during the nights. But neither Oscar nor Axel needed to know that. 

They started to make their way towards the inner fence when they heard laughter, and who possibly was Daryl yelling something. As they reached it, they were able to see the other group as they joked around. Without meaning to, the brother’s eyes were immediately on the two persons in the middle of it, smiling as they saw Carol giggling and pushing Daryl as they walked back to the front gate. 

The moment they were noticed the body language of the whole group immediately changed. Gone was the camaraderie and friendliness they had been witness of just seconds before, now there were three really angry men and a wary woman staring their way. 

Rick and the rest of the group made their way to them, stopping a few feet away from them, just outside the inner gate. “That’s close enough. We had an agreement.” He said.

As usual when it had something to do with begging, Axel was the first one to open his mouth. “Please, mister. We know that, we made a deal. But you gotta understand! We can’t live in that place another minute, you follow me? All the bodies, people we knew! Blood, brains everywhere! There’s ghosts!”

Carol frowned as she heard the small man talk, she knew, from what the brother had told her that the bodies were long gone, and at least their cell was as clean as it was going to get. “Why don’t you move the bodies out?” Daryl asked from her side. She took the opportunity to look at her friend and somehow compare him to the man standing beside his brother in front of them. Daryl skin was obviously darker, but that could just be because the man had always spent time outside rather than actual skin tone; if she didn’t remember wrong, from the few times she had been allowed to see his back or chest, he probably was as pasty white as the two Irishmen standing there. 

“You should be burning them.” T-Dog said as they watched as Maggie and Glenn arrived standing at the inmates’ backs. 

“We did it, we just keep getting more each day,” Connor said, his eyes on Rick. He knew the other man was just looking out for his family, but he was not going to back down. His and Murphy’s escapades were not enough, they were not going to stay cooped up inside any longer if they could help it. 

“The fence is down on the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. He,” Oscar pointed at Murphy, “found an inner yard, closed, where we’ve been burning them, but they just keep getting in.”

“Look! We had nothing to do with Thomas and Andrew, nothing! You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro! We’ll do whatever it takes to be a part of your group, just, please, please, don’t make us live in that place!” Axel was whining, again.

Rick sighed, his eyes hard as he looked over the four men standing in front of him. “Our deal is not negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave.”

Oscar shook his head, sighing as he talked to Axel who had been the one to bring up the idea of talking to them. “I told you this was a waste of time. They ain’t no different than the pricks who shot up our boys. You know how many friends’ corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw ‘em out like… Those were good guys! Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint like Thomas and Andrew.” He turned to talk to Rick then, who immediately put his hand over his pistol as the bigger man took a step towards him. “Now, we’ve all made mistakes to get in here, chief, and I’m not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me… we paid our due. Enough that we would rather hit that road, than to go back into that shithole.”

They noticed how Rick turned to Daryl for advice, and they couldn’t help but glare at the red neck as he shook his head to him. Carol, meanwhile, had to stay put at Daryl’s side; true she knew Murphy and Connor, but she had no idea what type of men Axel and Oscar were. As well as she didn’t know what reaction Daryl would have if she approached them so openly, and her friend was not exactly the coolest headed person there. 

Rick made a motion for the four of them to follow him, making them fall in line behind him. Carol gave them a small smile as they walked by her, frowning when Daryl glared at her as he walked behind them. 

“Get in,” Daryl said once he had opened the inner gate, motioning with his head for them to move. 

“Just think about what you’re doing,” Connor said softly as he stopped in front of him, Murphy walking inside behind him, “you know we don’t deserve this, you know we gotta stick together.”

“I know nothing about this,” the archer sneered at him, as he pulled the gate closed with more force than necessary, locking them inside. 

“Come on, dude!” Axel yelled at his retreating back, as he made his way back to where Rick, Carol and the rest of them were waiting for him. Carol watched as the two men talked, noticing how whatever Connor had said to him, had affected Daryl more than he wanted to let them know. 

“I think they we should let them stay,” T-Dog said as he looked at the men from the corner of his eye. He had been front and center through all their interactions, those men, especially the brothers, had fought alongside with them without harming them. They deserved at least a chance in his book. 

As Daryl took his place between Rick and Carol in the small circle they had formed, he looked at her. He had seen the smile she had given to those men, and it wasn’t that he was jealous, but why would she do that? She didn’t know what they were capable of!

“Are you serious?” Rick said to T-Dog “You want them living in a cell next to you? They’ll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons, you want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?”

“I never stopped. Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves.” 

“I don’t know; Axel seems a little unstable.” Glenn said as he threw a look at where the men were standing, shaking his head as he did. 

“What about the brothers?” Carol said, feeling as Daryl tensed beside her, “if it wasn’t for them Hershel would probably be dead, you also said they had warned you about the other guy.” She said the last part to Daryl, her voice soft as she did so. 

“It’s just been us for so long… They’re strangers. I don’t… it feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around.” Maggie said as she looked at Glenn, at the rest of their family. 

“You brought us in.” It wasn’t that T-Dog trusted the men, but to send them just out? That felt too much like a sentence for him. 

“Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms, didn’t give us a choice.” The sad smile in Maggie’s face was everything they needed to remember how exactly their first encounter had been.

“And without at least two of them, your daddy would have been dead,” Daryl’s words made her zoom into him immediately. The quiet man looked down, not knowing the reason why he had felt the need to jump into their defense like that. 

“Those four might actually have less blood on their hands than we do.” T-Dog muttered, to which Carol had to stop herself from actually reacting to. The MacManus brothers definitely had more blood in their hands that probably all of them together, but it had always been for a reason. Always.

“I get guys like this.” Daryl said, his voice low as he looked specifically at the brothers who made eye contact with him. “Hell, I grew up with them. They’re degenerates, but they ain’t psychos. I could have been with them just as easy as I’m out here with you guys.” He broke the eye contact to look back at the group, trying not to let them know how desperately he wanted for them to stay.

“Are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room?” Glenn said uncomfortably as all eyes turned on him. He gave them a nervous smile, as he pointed at Daryl and then at where the inmates were. “About the fact that there’s a guy who looks like he could be Daryl’s twin brother?”

The silence that followed his statement was complete. No one dared to say anything, while at the same time they all pretended they weren’t looking at Daryl. 

“When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid. Nineteen years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial, suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and in 2 weeks later shot another girl. We’ve been through too much. Our deal with them stands.” Rick said breaking the silence that had fallen upon them. His tone was hard, not open to debate. 

The group broke apart as Rick moved away, both Carol and Daryl looking back to the brothers without really noticing the other doing the same. 

“They’re going to kick us out,” Connor muttered to Murphy as they saw Carol and Daryl’s dejected looks as they moved to continued working around. 

“Better now than later, I reckon,” His brother said as he pulled a cigarette from god knows where and put in his mouth, without lighting it. He was nervous, he didn’t want to leave and neither did he. Connor sighed as the moved away from the fence, sitting down in the shade as they waited for whatever it was that their future would bring them.

They didn’t need to move until the doors were open so they could move their cars and Daryl’s bike inside. They laughed at Axel’s try to make friends with Murphy’s clone, noticing how the man tried to steal looks at both of them while pretending not to. He was curious about the reason of their likeness, that could work in their favor somehow, they hoped. 

It wasn’t until a couple of hours later when Glenn, Rick and Daryl approached them, a backpack and a box with supplies with them. Rick and Daryl moved past them as soon as the door was open, leaving the box in the floor moving to door leading to the fenced corridor. “There’s enough food in there to last you guys a week. Cut you loose when we get back.” Glenn told them as he moved to follow them.

“Thank you, bro.” Axel said, trying somehow to appear friendly to the man. 

Glenn gave them a somewhat sad look “Sit tight.” He followed his companions.  

“Thank you bro?” They could hear Oscar making fun of Axel behind them, as they watched Daryl walked away from them, not looking back.

“I guess he doesn’t care,” Connor said so just Murphy would hear him. They moved so they could watch where Carol was. Their friend was driving the cars to the inner courtyard, out of their direct eyesight. “I’m going to miss her, though.” The sad smile he saw in his brother’s face making him hate Rick Grimes a little more than he did before. 

.-.-.-.-

As they walked the fence and argued about what needed to be done, Daryl couldn’t help but let his mind wander back to the two men that had somehow helped them so much. He wasn’t stupid, he knew there was some weird shit going on, how on earth could It be that there was someone who looked exactly like him? Were they related? Why the hell had Carol tried to jump into their defense? Why?

“We’re behind a fence. It’s worth a one-time risk to get rid of the bodies for good. I don’t want to be planting crops in walker-rotted soil. Daryl? Daryl?!” Rick’s voice calling his name was what brought him back, there was no time for that, he had something to do and it wasn’t to worry about that. It wasn’t like he could change anything, Rick would never allow them to stay, nothing that he said mattered. 

The three of them went back to the place where they had opened the fence the week before, the mission was to get as much timber and wood to finally burn the pile of bodies they had made on the side of the yard. The three of them worked diligently and quietly, only talking when there was need to warn someone of an approaching walker. Once they collected as much as they could carry they made their way back inside. 

“Looky here.” The smile in Daryl’s face was as big as he had had in a long time. From where they were standing, they could see as Hershel made his way across the courtyard in crutches. 

“He is one tough son of a bitch. Alright Hershel!!” Glenn said laughing, yelling the last part as he waved at the old man and the rest of their family standing in the inner courtyard. 

“Keep your cheers down.” Daryl said shushing him, pointing at the walkers behind the fence that had started moving at the young man’s noise. 

Glenn rolled his eyes at him, “Oh, man, can’t we just have one good day?” to which Rick just shook his head and chuckled. Their attention was still on the group up there, Hershel in his crutches, Lori, Beth and Carl, with T-Dog and Carol getting off the cars they had just finished moving to congratulate the old man. 

When the first scream from Carl was heard, they didn’t understand what the boy had said. They looked in shock as he turned and started shooting something behind him, the clear sound of ‘walkers’ was heard as he yelled from a second time. 

All Daryl could remember was the feeling of his heart leaping from his chest as he saw the walkers made their way towards their family. Without thinking the three of them started sprinting towards the gate. It felt like forever as they ran as fast as they could, trying as much as he could to keep an idea of where everyone was, to know which direction Carol had run to. 

.-.-.-

“Look,” Oscar said as he looked at where the old man was moving around, supported by who he assumed was his daughter. “Lucky son of a bitch.”

Murphy elbowed Connor a smile on his face as they looked on. Carol’s words immediately coming into his thoughts, their part in that man being alive and well was one of the few good things they had done lately in their life. They stood up from where they were sitting, making their way to the fence as their attention was taken by Glenn yelling and waving at the group. 

“Fuck! No! Fuck!” was the first thing out of Connor’s mouth as soon as Carl had yelled the warning for walkers. Their eyes scanned the area, not seeing any way to be able to escape the purpose it had been made for. 

“Carol!” Murphy yelled for the woman as they saw her running around the walkers, with the others. “Carol! Fuck!” He looked at his brother for ideas, for any kind of help. They could see that Daryl, Rick and Glenn were sprinting towards them, but they were still far away. “Fuck!” 

Connor said nothing, moving to where the chain was looped around and trying to somehow break it, there was no common sense in their minds at the moment. “It’s a fucking five shooter!” He yelled as they heard the fighting going on without being able to help, “a fucking five shooter!”

By the time Rick arrived to them, yelling to them to get out of the way, they had resorted to try and kick the gate down, which of course was not working, at all. As soon as the gate was open, they sprinted together with the three men towards the prison, leaving the other two inmates well behind. 

Glenn was the first one to arrive at the gate, and at Daryl’s order he opened it. The three armed men started killing walkers as soon as the gate was open, meanwhile Murphy and Connor stayed back trying like crazy to find some kind of weapons to help them. 

“Catch!” Was all Murphy heard before a knife was thrown his way, just in time for him to catch it and slam it into a walker that was about to reach Connor. With one weapon now, at least, the brothers went back to back once again as they moved together with the rest of them to where Rick was talking to Beth and Hershel. 

“What the hell happened?” Rick asked Beth, as she and Hershel looked on from behind a closed gate. 

As Rick continued to get information, the brothers migrated to cover Glenn and Daryl’s back, the four of them, once Glenn threw Connor his spare knife, got rid of the rest of the walkers around them. Glenn approached the gate, swarmed on the other side with walkers, only to see the broken chains in the floor.  

“Those chains didn’t break on their own. Someone took an ax or cutters to ‘em.” The young man said out of breath, looking at Rick as he did so. Rick’s eyes immediately go to the brothers, making Daryl who was standing beside them move forward as an automatic response. His eyes quickly moved towards the remaining prisoners, who had just then made it to them. 

“You think they did it?” Glenn asked, a tint of disbelief in his voice.

“Who else?” Rick growled at him. Daryl glared at Murphy as he saw him open his mouth to try and defend the other men, knowing that Rick wouldn’t be kind if he did so. 

Out of nowhere, the prison alarm went off. The noise almost deafening loud, coming from the speakers set all around the courtyard. The walkers just passing through outside the gates started moving towards them, attracted by it. 

“What’s that?” Glenn asked as everyone looked around, trying to find where exactly the sound was coming from. 

“Oh! You gotta be fucking kidding me!” Daryl and Murphy complained loudly at the same time as they turned in circles trying to find the place the speakers were at. 

At Rick’s command, the three armed men started shooting the speakers, the sound not disappearing completely as they did so.

“How the hell can this be happening?!” Rick yells, approaching Connor grabbing him by the lapels and shaking him as he did so. 

“We don’t know, we got here three months before all this shit!” Murphy yelled as he pulled his brother away from the Deputy, glaring at the other man as they stood face to face. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, it has to be the backup generators!” Oscar said as he approached Rick from behind, throwing his hands up as the desperate men pointed the gun at him. 

“Well how do you turn those on?” 

“There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hatch shut them all off when the prison was overrun!” Oscar explained as quickly as he could, calming slightly as Rick stopped pointing the gun at him. 

“Can someone open up the main gates electronically, with full power?” Rick threw an uneasy look at the main gate, their only defense against the walkers outside at the moment. 

“Well, I only went in there a few days, I… I guess it might be possible.” Oscar stammered slightly as he tried to remember his time there, it had been almost a year before after all. 

“Come with us!!” He orders Oscar, before he takes off running without waiting for the rest of them. 

“For fucks sake!” Connor yells as the rest of them run in behind them, trying to keep some semblance of formation as they did so. The five of them work together to take down the few walkers they find, reaching Rick just as he’s entering the block itself.

“Lori!! Carl!!!” They heard as Rick yelled, reaching him just for Daryl to shoot a walker that was going to take him by surprise. “There’s no sign of Lori or anyone!” 

“They must have been pushed back into the prison!” Glenn said as he looked around. 

“Somebody is playing games!! We’ll split up and look for the others. Whoever gets to the generators first, shut ‘em down!!” Rick ordered, taking off into the deeper parts of the prison.

“Let’s go!” Daryl said as he followed them, his free hand pushing at Murphy’s back to push him along. It wasn’t long before the group split up, there was no time for arguments so the brothers went with Glenn while Daryl took off with Rick and Oscar. 

“This way!” Connor said as he plunged his knife into the skull of a walker, “the generators are this way, I think!”

“You think?!” Glenn yelled as he sliced the head of a walker with his machete, “you think?!”

“WE GOT HERE THREE FUCKING MONTHS BEFORE ALL THINGS WENT TO SHIT!” Murphy yelled as he slammed his knife into three walkers in a row, one after the other. 

The three men continued their way into the deeper parts of the prison, taking out as many walkers as they could in their way. They were way past the infirmary when the alarm suddenly stopped, the only sound heard was their tired pants as they tried to regain their breath. As much as they had been looking for the backup generator, they had also been looking for the rest of their group, and they hadn’t found either.

“Maybe they’re already back,” Murphy said as they saw Glenn stop and close his eyes, as if trying to focus.  

“Let’s head back,” Glenn said, trying to keep his voice leveled. His hands were shaking, blood spattered all over. The brothers silently followed, calm but alert for anything that moved. It was a few minutes before they heard noise in front of them, sighing when they realized it was the rest of their group. 

Rick and Daryl took point, as the rest of them followed. Weapons up, alert. As they moved through corridors neither group had walked, they encountered a few walkers, that they quickly dispose of. 

Everyone stopped in their tracks as they turned a corner, only to encounter two walkers eating someone lying on the floor. Murphy leaned over Daryl’s shoulder trying to get a look at who is it, “is it Carol?” he whispered so only the archer could hear him. Daryl, sadly shook his head, as he shot one of the walkers eating T-Dog while Rick did the same with the other. 

Murphy and Connor moved to stand behind Daryl, most of their movements unconscious, as the other man kneeled to pick something from the floor. He turned then to show them immediately what he was holding. Carol’s red scarf. 

Connor’s free hand immediately went to grab his brother’s shoulder, feeling as Murphy just deflated. Daryl stood up, sadly looking at Rick and Glenn shaking his head before wrapping the scarf in his fist, continuing in their way to get out and regroup. 

The small group moved quickly and as silently as they possibly could. They tried to barricade as many doors behind them before reaching where they started at Cell Block C. 

“Hershel!” Rick yells as soon as they exit, not seeing anyone else outside yet.

“You didn’t find ‘em?” The vet asked as hopped down the stairs to join them. 

“We thought maybe they came back out here.” Glenn said softly, his voice breaking as he did so. 

“What about T, Carol?” Hershel looked at Daryl’s defeated posture, already knowing his answer. 

“They didn’t make it.” Murphy’s arm just went around Connor’s back as Daryl muttered those words. The brothers were standing behind him, close but not crowding the man, silently giving him their support without really noticing. 

“That doesn’t mean the others didn’t. We’re going back! Daryl and Glenn, you come with me… you two--” just as Rick was starting to bark out orders to a tired and defeated group a baby’s cry was heard. Slowly, Rick turned around only to see Maggie opening the gate with a barely responsive Carl walking behind her. 

She’s crying, unable to connect two words together. They all look on as Rick starts to make his way towards her, his weapons long forgotten falling from his hands. He looks at Carl, he looks at Maggie’s bloody hands, he looks at the baby.

“Where is… where is she?” The anguish in his words are heartbreaking. 

Watching Rick break down in front of them, Rick who had been the reason why they had probably made it that far was eye opening. Daryl couldn’t take his eyes off the man as he approached his son and tried to wrap his head around what had happened. To be honest, he hadn’t been able to do so either. 

Lori was gone, T-Dog was gone, and Carol. Daryl felt as if someone had punched him in the chest as he just even tried to process it. Sweet gentle teasing Carol was gone, and all he had left of her, of the woman that offered him compassion and friendship for the first time in his life was the scarf he had wrapped around his hand. He could see Hershel start moving across the courtyard, but as he tried to make himself move behind him his body just wouldn’t answer. 

He shook his head slightly, trying to keep his balance as everything started to sway around him. “Breathe,” a deep voice said softly from his side, as a hand touched his right hand, the hand he had Carol’s scarf on. It was as if his lungs had been waiting for the reminder to do their job, he took a deep breath as he felt someone else move to his other side, not touching him but being there, a steady presence. 

With those two presences around him, he saw as Rick vanished behind a curtain of pain and anguish. They watched as the man they considered their leader fall, and they saw him also not try to get up again. 


	4. Say the word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Say the word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left their lovely messages, as well as the kudos. You guys keep me going. Thank you

Chapter IV

Say the word

 

It takes Daryl a few minutes to compose himself. Connor and Murphy are still standing at his sides, Murphy closer than the older twin, still grasping his hand tightly through Carol’s scarf. He bites his lower lip as they, as a family, see Rick try and stand up from his position lying in the ground. With a nod at the men at his side, he moves forward, pass Carl, Maggie and Glenn, to try and make eye contact with the deputy.

“Rick,” he says as he slouches in front of him, “you with me? Rick?” He turns to look at the rest of his people, a confused look in his eyes as he tries to look for someone who has any idea of what’s going on. 

Hershel sighs shaking his head. “Let me see the baby,” he calls to his daughter, and they all move towards him to see the smallest member of their family. 

“What are we going to feed it? Do we have anything a baby could eat?” Murphy noticed how Daryl’s mind seemed to be going a mile a minute, as the man walked back towards them talking to the older man. He made eye contact with Connor as Daryl just moved to stand between them once again, closer than both of them had been expecting from the archer. 

Beth moved to help her father as the baby was brought to him, trying not to smile sadly as her father uncovered the bloody but otherwise healthy looking baby. “She seems healthy, but she needs formula or she won’t survive.”

“No, no way,” the gruff man said as he moved to back towards the cars while putting his crossbow across his back, “Not her, we’re not losing anyone else, I’m going for a run.” 

“I’ll back you up,” Maggie was the first one to say. “Me too,” her boyfriend followed quickly. 

“We’re going,” Connor raised head, looking at the archer right in the eyes. 

“Nah, you’re staying” Daryl said as he swallowed, shaking his head. “Think of where we’re going,” he said while he and Maggie moved towards Beth. “Kid just lost his mom, look after him,” The archer barely waited for the girl to nod before he started to make his way to the cars, expecting Maggie and Glenn just to follow him.

“We want to help,” Murphy said as he followed him, anger clear in his tone of voice, approaching the other man quickly. Daryl shook his head, stopping a few feet away, putting a hand on the other man’s shoulder to get him to stop and look at him. Both were vibrating with pent up energy, both looked into each other’s eyes not breaking the connection.

“Need people we can trust here,” Daryl’s voice was low, as if trying to not let other people besides Murphy and Connor, who seemed to move wherever his brother did, hear. “He’s out of it; I take Glenn and Maggie, and something happens? Not losing anyone else today.” He dropped his hand from Murphy’s shoulder, looking at Connor as he continued, “There are guns in my perch, take care of them.”

Connor took Murphy’s arm and pulled him out of the Daryl’s personal space, the archer giving him a nod before turning and barking more orders to the remaining inmates. He was impressed by the change in the quiet man as they prepared to go on the impromptu run.

“Maggie, Glenn, Vamonos!” Daryl shouted as he started to trot towards the cars, “Come on, we’re going to lose the light!” The desperation in his voice seemed to jump start everyone into their given jobs, Maggie and Glenn running to catch up with him before he left without them. 

“Come on lad,” Connor said as he and Murphy approached Carl, Hershel and Beth. “Let’s get this little princess inside and wrapped in something before she catches a cold,” there was a somewhat tender smile on the Irishman’s face that puzzled Hershel as he looked at the brothers. 

It was the first time he had any type of interaction with them, and to be honest he had been somewhat wary of sharing the prison space with known criminals. But he prided himself in his ability to read people, and just as Shane had given him untrustworthy feelings from the moment they met, these two men were the complete opposite. 

“He’s right son,” the vet murmured giving a sad smile to the young boy, “let’s all move back inside.” Carl nodded, looking towards where his dad had disappeared back inside the prison. Murphy put a hand in his shoulder, squeezing lightly. The five of them turned to look back as they heard Daryl’s bike start before he drove away with Maggie, not looking back as he did so. 

“C’mon,” Murphy muttered prompting the young boy to start moving back inside, away from the carnage that surrounded them. “I bet Beth here will be willing to help you clean this little love right up, don’t ya reckon?” 

Without being obvious about it, the brothers proceeded to take the small group they had been put in charge of back into their cell block, covering the front and back just in case they had missed any rotten bastards. Once inside the block, Connor moved to take the guns from where Daryl had told him too, arming himself and his brother, before  they started picking up the dead bodies together to make the space livable again. 

“Why are you doing this?” Glenn’s incredulous voice broke them from their internal musings as he came upon the two brothers moving yet another body closer to the door, allowing Hershel, Beth and Carl walker free space to mourn their losses.

“Doing what?” Connor grunted as they threw the last of the walkers from inside the cell block to the pile. 

“Helping us,” Glenn just chuckled, shaking his head from side to side while running a hand through his hair. “We have been nothing but complete assholes to you and yours; we took over your prison; took half of your food; got your friends killed and yet here you are, again, helping us through this.”

“They weren’t our friends,” Murphy answered moodily as he wiped his nose with the back of his right arm. 

“Whatever,” Glenn muttered as he moved to continue to help removing the bodies not littered in the place around them. “the point is,” he looked up at Connor as the man moved to take the walker he had been trying to drag by the lapels of his shirt and they both pulled him up, “you have been helpful from the beginning, you saved me on more than one occasion down there.  You could have just done nothing.”

“That’s not who we are,” there was a look shared between the brothers’ before Connor continued speaking, “we’re not saints,” this for some reason made the other brother chuckle, “but we see people needing help, we help them, simple as that.” Of course it wasn’t simple as that, it was never simple as that; but for the time being, Glenn was willing to accept it.

“What about Daryl?”

“What about him?” There was a tension there that hadn’t been before, and Glenn took notice. 

“Does he has anything to do with you? With this?”

“That my friend,” the Irish accent coming from someone who bore such resemblance with the archer made the Korean stop and fix his attention on the other man, “we still have to find out, we know as much as you do, swear to God.”

As soon as the cell block was once again free of walkers, and after eating a cold meal of whatever the young woman had been able to get together for them, it was decided that what needed to do be done next was to dig the graves for the fallen.

“One of us is staying with them,” Connor said to the other two as they looked at where Carl was trying to sooth the crying newborn, “we can’t leave them unprotected.  We can go, dig them,” he said the last part directly to Glenn who looked between the brothers and his people. 

The younger man sighed, shaking his head as he tried to keep tears at bay, “no, Daryl trusts you, and so do I, one of you stay with them,” he swallowed to try and undo the knot he felt in the back of his throat. “I need to help dig the graves, they were my friends.”

Connor nodded at him, a sad smile on his face. “Then I’ll go with you,” he raised his eyebrow as he saw Murphy was about to protest, “you’re better with them kids that I am, you stay and see if you can help.” 

Together, Glenn and Connor grabbed the shovels the group had found a few days before and walked slowly and silently to the enclosed yard. The only words shared once they arrived was the murmured instructions Glenn gave for where the three graves were supposed to be, and for how deep they ought to be. 

Ten minutes passed in complete silence from the two men;  the only sounds were their huffs and puffs as they worked together with the sounds of nature around them. “You two are extremely close,” Glenn finally broke as he continued to dig what was to be T-Dog’s grave. 

Connor stopped to wipe his forehead as he stood inside the grave he was digging, turning to look at Glenn as he did so. At his look Glenn continued, “you and your brother?”

“We’ve been sharing space since the womb,” Connor grunted as he turned to continue his sad work, “we’ve been attached at the hip since before we were born, it's just one of those things that happen, ya know?”

“You’re twins?” Connor chuckled as he noticed the boy had stopped working and had just turned to look at him with shock in his face.

“Hey, I know Murphy ain’t as good looking as I am, but he’s not that bad.” The joke seemed to bring the other man out of his stupor, making him blush while Connor just laughed. “Yeah, we’re twins,” He patted his overall pockets, finding his pack of smokes and pulling out. He saw Glenn stop once again and offered him one, which he didn’t accept. 

“Born here in the land of the free,” he opened his arms mockingly as he motioned to the land around him, the now lit cigarette in his mouth. “Brought up in beautiful Ireland, then moved back here when we were about ya age.”

Their easy talk continued as they got on with their work, making the grueling task of digging places for the people they lost easier. They were about to be done when they saw movement around them, turning to see Axel and Oscar approaching from inside the prison. 

It seemed like their banter had made them, especially Glenn, forget for a little time the reality around them, what they had in fact been doing. With a tired sigh, the Korean man got out of the grave his had been digging and approached the two inmates; Connor grunted and followed suit, standing a few feet behind him. 

“Nice of you to finally join us,” the snark in Connor’s voice was unmissable, Axel visibly cowered at it. 

“We were looking around the perimeter,” Oscar said, glaring at the Irishman. 

“And? How does the perimeter look?” Glenn had shut down once again, his voice cold and giving nothing away as he stood in front of the two men.

“We did as the redneck said, we got the walkers spread out,” Axel answered promptly, not making eye contact with Connor while Oscar glared at him. “Your friends,” he continued, taking a small step towards Glenn to which the other man just moved slightly back while putting the shovel in front of him, like a barrier between whatever the man was about to say and himself. “They were good folks.”

Something changed in Glenn as Axel said those words, he went from being closed off to aggressive faster than a blink of an eye. “They were family,” he painfully shot back as he turned to continue their arduous work. 

“I think I had one friend like that in my whole life,” Oscar had seemed to have deflated too, as he looked at Glenn with sadness in his eyes, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Glenn nodded, still not looking at them.

“Glenn,” a hand on his arm finally made the young man look up from where he had seemed lost looking down into the empty grave he had just finished digging. “Let them help, look,” Connor made a motion with his head towards where Glenn could see now was Hershel looking at them.  “Go, we got this.”

With a nod and a pat in the back, Glen gave the shovel to Axel as he walked slowly as if the weight of the word had fallen onto his shoulders to where his father in law was waiting for him. 

“How many more do we need to dig?” Connor tensed as Oscar moved to stand beside him, shovel ready to start.  The smaller man shook his head, putting a hand out to stop him from starting.

“Just one, but I got this,” the sadness in the man’s eyes was disproportionate to those that didn’t know him, and he was alright with that. “We need to start finally burning all the bodies, the new ones and the ones over there,” he pointed towards a side of the yard. With a nod he saw as Axel and Oscar moved to start to work, just as Glenn waved at him as he made his way back into the prison.

“Just you and me now, A chara,” sadness poured from him through his words as he looked at where he was about to start digging his newest friend’s grave. “Just you and me now.”

.-.-.

Glenn took a detour after leaving the yard to check up on the youngest part of his family before going after Rick. “Carl, Beth?” His voice resonated in the quiet, too quiet, cell block. 

A voice shushed him from further in, a surprising Murphy carrying a sleeping baby while his finger was kept inside her mouth greeted him as he walked further into it. “They’re asleep,” was the answer to the unasked question in the man’s eyes, “the lad cried himself to sleep, just about five minutes ago.” Glenn looked into one of the cells to see Carl warped around Beth’s arms, both sound asleep with tear tracks marked in their faces. 

“Beth too?”

The way Murphy tilted his chin as he nodded was such a Daryl thing to do, that Glenn had to shake his head slightly to remind himself that the man in front of him was not in fact whom he had known for most of the last year. “She couldn’t move without waking him, so she decided to take a nap once she saw I had the little princess covered.”

“Good, good,” he sighed as he approached the other McManus brother, looking down at the sleeping baby. “She okay?”

“She cried herself to sleep,” he muttered as he hugged her closer to him, “she must be starving.”

“Maggie and Daryl will be back soon,” Glenn said with a sigh before looking at the open doors around them. “Do you know where Carl left the keys of the prison?” Murphy nodded, pointing with his elbow towards where the kid’s things had been dropped just inside the cell. 

With a relieved sigh Glenn picked them up before exiting the cells, and started to walk towards the open door that led to the tombs. “I’m going for Rick,” he explained to the other man, as both turned at the sound of a door open and closing, only to see Hershel making his way back inside. “Take care of them.” 

And with those words he was off in search of the lost leader. 

“She still asleep?” Hershel brought the man out of his thoughts as he wobbled in his crutches towards him.

“Easy old man,” Murphy said as he made his way to his side, not touching him but being there just in case. 

“You two,” The white haired man chuckled as he sat himself in one of the benches that was around a table, looking up to the tattooed man start to shush the fussing baby in his arms, rocking her slightly as she fell back into uneasy sleep. “There’s just something about you two, that I just can’t figure it out.”

.-.-.-

By the time Connor, Oscar and Axel were done moving the scattered bodies, the sun was way past mid afternoon. The three men made their way into the forbidden cell block in silence, tiredness setting deep within their bones from all the physical work together with the sun beating down on them. Connor was soaked to the bone from all the sweaty work he had seemed to had done, but it was either keep the thick overalls covering him or risking getting sunburn everywhere, Irish skin and sun did not mix well. 

Either way, the door to the tombs opened at the same time as they started to walk down the few steps as they arrived, revealing a weary Glenn.  “Ya alright?” Murphy walked out the cells as he heard his brother’s voice.

“I need your help,” the brothers looked at each other briefly before moving towards him. Glenn let out a deep sigh, as he dropped himself to the bench closest to him. “We need to bury whatever is left of them,” the words seemed hard to even mutter, his eyes were down looking at his blood soaked hands in his lap. “We can’t wait any longer.” He had seen what had been left of T-Dog again as he made his way back from trying to talk to Rick, and he just couldn’t let anyone else go through that. 

“Alright,” Connor said as his eyes left the young man’s figure and turned to Oscar and Axel, who were just in the outskirts of room. “Oscar, could you go get some of the extra linens we have in our block, and then join us down there?”

“Where are you going?” Everyone turned to look at where Carl stood, hat back on as he shuffled on his feet at the opening of the cell block. 

“Hey buddy,” Glenn pained smile and friendly tone did nothing to the lost boy, his eyes going from his friend to the two brothers. Murphy made his way to him, stopping when he was right in front of him. He looked towards where Hershel was sitting inside his cell, the tired old man giving him a nod as if in permission to say what was really going on to the young man.

“We’re going to retrieve ya mum’s body, and the rest of your friends,” the sadness in the boy was palatable, but at least he was calmer than before. “The four of us need to go down there, so we need you to stay sharp and look after the people here, you up for it?” Murphy’s eyes searched into the boys, nodding at him before dropping his hand from his shoulder and going back to Glenn and his brother.

“Let’s go,” with a last look at Carl, Glenn led the way as they tried to bring some semblance of normalcy back to their group.

“He’s strong,” Murphy said to both Connor and Glenn as soon as Oscar and Axel had left them to go and get the much needed linens, “kids are resilient, he’ll be alright.”

“I hope so,” Glenn muttered as they continued on their way down, trying to avoid where he had last seen Rick knowing the man was a danger not only to himself but to all of them at that moment. 

“We know where T-Dog and Carol died,” Glenn was barely able to choke out the last word, taking a deep breath before trying not to heave as the stench of walker filled his nose. A warm hand patted his back in comfort as he tried to get it together once again. After a few deep breaths he pulled himself back up looking at the two men in front of him, “Any idea where Lori might be?”

“Carl,” Murphy cleared his throat as he looked everywhere but at Glenn, “he, when he was crying, he just needed to let someone know what had happened.” His brother moved to his side, silent support as he had always been. “The boiler room.”

Silently the three men continued their way, guns drawn and ears open to any kind of danger. A few corridors down they met again with Axel and Oscar, and together they went to do what had to be done. The tension was palpable as they arrived to the boiler room, Glen on point. The horrified sound the Korean man let out as they turned to see a walker eating his way through the dead women was haunting. 

Oscar was the first one to react, slamming his pipe into the walkers’ head, using it to pull him away from the dead woman’s body as he fell. “Fuck,” Connor muttered as they saw Glenn approach the barely recognizable body in the ground, tears running down his cheeks. 

“Oh Lori,” Glenn whispered as he fell into his knees in front of what was left of his friend. The walker had gotten to her, and had had enough time to give itself a feast. Her long dark hair, as well as her top being the things that marked her as the lost member of their group. The brothers made their way to the crying man, putting a hand on each of his shoulder while kneeling besides him, before crossing themselves and lowering their heads in prayer. A few moments passed, the only sounds heard were Glenn’s sniffing as well as the brother’s muttering.

Connor extended a hand towards where he knew Oscar was standing, to which the man responded with putting one of the white sheets in it. Slowly he moved from his knees, to extend the sheet and lower it over the fallen woman. “I got it,” Glenn said as the brother’s moved to carry the body. With a nod they let the man who had known her better than them finish wrapping her in the now bloody sheet, using a second one to try and keep Carl from seeing the amount of blood before standing up with her in his arms and leaving the boiler room.

At their insistence, Glenn made his way back their cell block with Axel acting as a guard as the three of them made their way to where they had found T-Dog and Carol’s scarf. They found the man’s body exactly where they had left him, and repeated the actions they had done with the other body. 

“I don’t see the other woman,” Oscar muttered as they finished, looking around. “They said there was another woman, right?” Connor could sense the heartbreak he was feeling reflected in his brother, and he knew he had to get Oscar to stop talking so lightly about their friend before his brother did something stupid. 

“She’s not here,” he said sadly, pulling his brother up and pushing him towards a closed door. “Look over there, to see if you see her.” Murphy glared at Oscar, who was still crouching by the body and didn’t notice.

He saw Murphy disappear behind the door, returning a few seconds later, shaking his head in negative. “She’s not there.”

With even a heavier heart, the three men returned with the remains of the black man who although not as friendly as their Carol, had at least showed them some compassion. 

As soon as they returned with the body, it was decided by Hershel that they needed to bury them. The state of their remains would be nothing but a beacon for the walkers left inside the prison, and with a heavy heart the remaining survivors made their way to the newly dug graves. Apparently while they had been retrieving the bodies, Beth had kept Carl distracted by picking pieces of wood they had found lying around and tying them down with some rope they had stolen from Daryl’s perch, serving as grave markers.

The four outsiders helped them lay the bodies to rest, staying behind as the four members of the death mourned them as best as they could at the moment. It was decided that a proper, or as close as a proper, service wouldn’t take place until the rest of the family were back. So as soon as the graves were covered, and the crosses were put in place, Hershel announced that it would be better if they all went back inside. The sun was starting to come down, while the baby in Beth’s arms cries were starting to resonate around and arouse the walkers just walking by. 

“Carl?” the boy was standing in front of his mother’s grave, looking at the crooked cross that marked it. As Glenn repeated the question the boy finally raised his head, looking way younger than his thirteen years of age.

“How will we know?” His voice was small, broken. 

“How will we know what?” Glenn asked softly, making a motion for the rest of the group to go ahead as he stayed at Carl’s side. 

“Who’s grave is who’s?”

“We could mark them,” he pointed at some rocks just a few feet ahead of them, “their initials for each, would that be alright?” The boy nodded, tears in his eyes but refusing to let them spill, as they silently and diligently moved and marked each of the three graves. 

.-.-.-

Glenn couldn’t help but sigh again as he looked at the road from where he was standing on top of the watch tower. It was well beyond sundown, and still there was no Daryl not Maggie. He had brought Oscar and Axel to help them, since it had been decided that the twins were going to take the rest of the night shift as soon as the archer and his girlfriend returned. 

He could still hear the echo of the baby’s cries, hoping that it wouldn’t be too late. He agreed with Daryl, they couldn’t lose the baby too, it would be too damned much. His head shot up, there was a noise that was breaking the quiet of the Georgia night, and he couldn’t help but smile as it just grew louder with each moment that passed. 

“They’re here!” Oscar and Axel started banging the shovels they had against the side of the fence as soon as they heard his words, while Glenn took out a couple of walkers that were too close by the time Daryl arrived at the gate. The biker didn’t even try to stop, zooming past them in their heist to get back and feed that poor starving baby. 

“Go, go, go!” Daryl yelled at Maggie as soon as he stopped, turning the bike off at the same time he threw the stand on and jumped to run behind her. 

“Beth,” Maggie called her sister as soon as she made her way through the door, the archer not far behind her. The sisters immediately started preparing the baby’s milk as the redneck made his way to Carl, who was sitting between Hershel and Murphy, rocking the baby and talking to her softly.

“How is she?” Daryl murmured as he took the small newborn from the boy’s arms with more tenderness than anyone had seen ever in the man. He immediately started to gently shush her, as he looked at her scrunched up face as she cried in hunger. The moment the bottle was done, it was immediately in his hand and as soon as it touched the baby’s lips, she started sucking on it as if there was no tomorrow.

“C’mon, c’mon,” he said to her softly as she started to grunt as the milk began to flow into her mouth. A chuckle and a smile appearing on the man’s face, as he looked up the rest of his people in wonder at the precious thing in his arms. His smile turned into a grin as his eyes connected to the twins, who were grinning back at him just as much.

“She got a name yet?” He asked Carl, as the boy stood in front of him, looking at the now quiet baby in wonder. 

“No,” the boy looked down, not being able to handle the eyes contact at the moment, “Not yet,” he sighed, “I was thinking of Sophia, then there's Carol, too. And Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or... Lori. I don't know.” 

Pain blossomed inside Daryl’s chest. He had spent all day trying not to think of what he had lost back there; he had spent all day focused on not allowing his family to lose anyone else that he had not allowed himself to even think about her. He had almost broken down, when he had read her girl’s name in a children’s handprint in the place they had found their supplies in, but it wasn’t time then, and it wasn’t time now either. 

The baby made a noise as she continued to eat, making him look down. “Yeah, you like that?” He bounced the baby slightly, “Little ass-kicker”. A smile appeared in his face once again, looking at their little miracle. He looked up, smiling at the rest of their family, “It’s a good name, right?” The chuckles he got from them feeling like a triumph among the pain and suffering they had face that day. 

“Little ass-kicker, you like that huh?” He continued to move side to side as the baby continued to feed. “You like that sweetheart?”

Once the baby was fed, in a diaper for the first time in her life, and dressed in baby clothes, things seemed to start to wind down inside. It wasn’t before long that the brothers left the block towards the watch tower, where they had convinced the rest of the group that they would be alright in. After all it was almost midnight by the time they finished their recounting of the day on both sides, and there was two of them. 

“She deserved better,” It wasn’t until a few hours later that the silence was broken by the words muttered by Murphy. He was leaning on the lowest banister, legs hanging as his brother laid down behind him, trying to get some sleep and not being able to. 

“They all did; they were good people.”

“She’s with her little girl now, there’s that at least.”

“Aye,” Connor turned on his side, his eyes on his brother’s tense back. “You fancied her, didn’t you?”

“Don’t know, maybe,” Murphy shrugged, “doesn’t matter now.”

“This always happens; you know?”

“Let me guess,” the glare thrown his way made him snicker lightly, “so did you.”

“And something tells me, your doppelgänger did too.”

“Fuck,” His head was in his hands, hitting his head against the metal bar in front of his once and again. “There’s that too.”

“He’s ours,” The tone of absolute certainty in Connor’s voice made Murphy turn around and look at him. “He got to be.”

“You sure?”

Connor sighed as he moved until he was sitting beside his brother, as close as they could get. “if you’re asking me for a birth certificate, no,” he made a pause, turning to look into the blue eyes that were just like his, “but I know, in here,” he put his hand in his brother’s chest, feeling how his heart beat at the same rhythm as his.  

With a deep sigh Murphy dropped his head onto his brother’s shoulder, keeping watch as they waited for the new day together, the two of them, as it had always been. The night was quiet, nothing else was spoken by the two of them as they kept their new family safe, as they allowed them to mourn their dead in the safety of their beds.

“Look Murph,” Connor woke up his brother from the nap he was taking as the first rays of light started to make their way into the sky. “A brand new day.” The peaceful silence was broken by the slamming of a metal door, making both brothers turn to search for the cause of it. 

Daryl made his way out of the cell block and down the courtyard silently, head down, pensive. They watched as he passed their position, not even acknowledging the fact that they were there, as he made his way not to the front gate as they initially suspected from the crossbow at his back, but towards the makeshift graveyard opposite. 

Quickly, the brothers made their way down the stairs, and moved as silently as possible to catch up with their third. They stopped a few feet behind him, as they saw him look down at Carol’s tomb; his body tensed when he finally noticed their presence behind him, but he didn’t bolt.

Connor and Murphy shared a look behind his back, moving slowly to flank him as he stood there, waiting for him to talk. “I knew you were speaking to her,” he chuckled as he felt them tense in surprise, “she was my” he sighed as if trying but failing to be able to name what she had been to him, “she told me about the two of you, and how good you were.” 

Silence engulfed them as the three of them thought back to the person they had lost, to what she had meant to Daryl and what she could have for the brothers. Daryl moved the hand that was hanging by his side to pull something out of the inside of his vest. He shook his head as he showed first Connor to his left and then Murphy to his right the slightly crushed Cherokee Rose he had taken yesterday from their run for this purpose only.

“I gave her one before,” his hand shook slightly as he held the flower tenderly in his hand, “when her little girl was missing, I brought her one to try and help her keep hope,” his chuckle was more in irony than proper humor, “much that it helped, now, I guess they will always remind me of her.” He moved forward to kneel at the side of her grave, putting the flower in the middle of the rocks that spelled her initial.

He felt as the men behind him moved to kneel at his sides, he took a deep breath as they put a hand on his shoulder each, expecting the gut reaction he had whenever someone tried to touch him, but it just didn’t appear. 

“Just repeat with us, brother,” Connor said as he squeezed his shoulder softly. Their free hand made their way to touch the side of the cross that marked her empty resting place.

“And shepherds we shall be,” Daryl had never been a religious person in his life. “For Thee, my Lord, for Thee.” But he followed as each brother said a phrase, repeating it with them. “Power hath descended forth from Thy hand.” He closed his eyes, lowering his head as he just let himself feel for once since his mother had passed away. “That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command.” He felt as the men beside him moved until they were both flanking him, kneeling shoulder to shoulder with him. “So we shall flow a river forth to Thee.” And for some reason, instead of feeling the need to escape, to get away as it usually did.... “And Teeming with souls shall it ever be.” he felt safety, he felt peace. “In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.”

It wasn’t until he opened his eyes, that he realized he had been crying. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, you can find me [Tumblr](http://geektaire.tumblr.com). Open to prompts!


	5. Hounded

Chapter V

Hounded

 

They haven’t spoken a word with him since he had practically ran back into the prison after their prayer. Both brothers had returned to their post, to wait until they were told it was time for breakfast and hence, their watch was done for the day. They didn’t need to talk among themselves, they had felt what they did, whatever happened in their future, he belonged with them. 

Daryl had needed space.  Not only was he trying to process what the day before meant, the loss of three of their own, the arrival of little ass-kicker, Rick losing himself in his grief, but he also was trying to avoid whatever those two men had to do with him. 

Lying down in his perch, he heard as the rest of the group started to slowly wake up to a new day. He wished he could just forget the last 24 hours, he wished he could turn back time and bring back the laughter and camaraderie they had had the morning before, he wished he could bring  _ her _ back. 

The last conversation Carol and he had, just the two of them, had been in the exact same place he was lying down in. She had had some problems sleeping, and as usual he was up  late. Knowingly, she had climbed up the stairs and sat beside him, talking and joking with him until the late hours of the night. Daryl shuddered as he remembered having woken up to find her lying down just a few inches besides him, close enough for him to touch. But he hadn’t, and he would never be able to now. 

He turned to lie on his side, his back to everyone else as he tried to pull himself together. He heard as Beth and Maggie started on their breakfast, as Hershel explained to Carl how to prepare the baby’s bottle, and how Glenn was sent to fetch the brothers in for breakfast. Knowing that those two were the last people he wanted to see him as somewhat vulnerable, he finally rose calling Oscar and Axel to join him in starting their tasks of the day. 

The mood was predictably low, everyone from Beth to Oscar were at their most sedated. Even the rowdy brothers were on their best behavior, thanking the girls when the food was given to them, sitting as far from Daryl as they could when they felt the man stiffen as they took a step towards him. 

Daryl couldn’t put his attention on them; if he did his mind would start wondering and he would eventually break down and try to allow them to talk to him.  He couldn’t do that, he had a job to do. His eyes stayed on Carl as the boy sat in silence picking at his breakfast, not eating. Sighing, he looked down back into his food when Rick’s voice made them all look up. “Everybody ok?”

Maggie was the first one to get her bearings together, “Yeah, we are.” Rick looked pale and unsettled, but at least he looked present, unlike the day before.

“What about you?” Hershel, the voice of reason, asked as Rick approached where they were sitting, Carl looking up at his father longing for comfort when the man didn’t immediately acknowledge his presence. 

“Cleared out the boiler block,” Rick’s voice was rough, as if he had spent the last day yelling until it was raw. 

Daryl threw a look at the twins, who he knew had been in that part of the tombs with Glenn the day before, Connor shook his head, silently trying to compel how unthinkable the feat had been. “How many were there?” He looked,  _ really _ looked, at Rick. The man was finally looking at his son, but he was not completely there yet.

“I don’t know,” Rick’s eyes left his son, looking at everyone and at no one at the same time. “One dozen, two dozen.” 

Anger started to burn inside Daryl at the man’s answer, the complete disregard for his children being the cause of it. “I have to get back,” The man shifted his eyes away from them all once again, turning his back on them while putting a hand on his son’s back, patting him “I just wanted to check on Carl.”

The already somber mood had become even more so as they tried to see their friend in the man standing in front of them. “Rick, we can take care of the bodies,” Glenn said quickly, standing up as he motioned to the rest of them, “you don’t have to.”

“No, I do,” the words were muttered as Rick turned and moved across the floor towards where Daryl was sitting down. “Everyone got a gun and a knife?” He asked, glaring slightly as he noticed that Connor and Murphy had stood up and moved closer to the archer as soon as he had stalked across the room. 

Daryl looked up at him, his posture was tense and only his eyes showing his true feelings. “Yes,” his voice was strong, and his tone somewhat daring, “we’re low on ammo, though.”

Connor recognized the look on Daryl’s face, his body language letting him know the true amount of anger the man was trying to keep contained. He moved a little closer to where the other man was sitting, moving to casually lean against the banister at his right. 

The movement was not lost to Glenn, who immediately reacted to try and defuse the tension. “Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon.” Rick’s attention was back on Glenn, and Daryl looked up to make eye contact with Connor, which seemed to be thing he needed to calm himself at least a little. “Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula.”

“We cleared the generator room,” Rick turned to look at Daryl as the man spoke again, “Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well.” 

And without any further ado, just muttering “good, good,” Rick crossed the floor and went back to the prison entrails, slamming the door behind him and discarding Hershel’s calls of his name. 

“Fuck him,” Daryl’s eyes zoomed into Murphy’s form as he heard the barely audible words being muttered from Connor’s other side. He couldn’t help but chuckle humorlessly, as he shook his head. Silently, everyone returned to their breakfast, their day was just beginning. 

“He didn’t even look at her,” Carl muttered a while later, after their task had been divided and everyone had started to collect their things to go ahead with them. Murphy, who had tried to stay close to the boy since the day before was lost for words; he looked at Hershel who was still sitting at the table as he put a hand on the boy’s shoulder trying to make him feel less alone. 

“I’ll go talk to him,” the older man said to the boy, his voice soft. Carl just nodded, his head down. 

“C’mon lad,” Murphy said to the boy, sitting beside him, “ya need to eat something, ya need your strength to watch out for the little ass-kicker.” The use of the nickname brought the boy a small smile to his face, and the Irishman tried not to let it feel like some kind of triumph. 

As his brother continued to talk to the downcast teen, Connor was talking with Glenn, Maggie and Daryl about what needed to be done that day. 

“We can go get the ammo and other things for the baby,” Daryl gave Connor a look as Maggie explained to them, “she needs more than what we were able to get yesterday.”

“Alright,” Daryl said, grimacing as he touched his knuckles to his mouth, “we’ll continue clearing the corridors, as soon as Hershel and Axel are back, we’re all going down there and finishing what we started yesterday.”

“Alright,” Glenn looked at the people around them, trying to be as positive as he could, “we have this, we’ll leave when you do too.”

“What happens if Hershel can’t talk some sense into Rick?” All eyes turned to Connor as soon as the man opened his mouth. “What happens to the lad, and ass kicker?”

The temperature of the room seemed to have dropped at the man’s words. That wasn’t something any of them were prepared to even think about. “We’ll make do,” Glenn said, sadly.

“We’re taking Carl with us,” Daryl didn’t even bother to react as he felt Maggie and Glenn’s eyes heavy on him. 

“It’ll be good for him,” something just made sense in Connor at Daryl’s statement. “He can use the opportunity to burn some of the rage he must have inside.” He turned his blue eyes to the couple in front of him, offering them a smile, “we’ll take care of him, he’ll be alright.”

“Well, if you are sure about that,” Glenn looked over his shoulder at the young boy that was almost plastered to the other Irishman, and shrugged. “Then it’s settled.”

.-.-.

The five of them moved silently down the corridors, Daryl and Murphy on front, with Oscar and Connor bringing in the rear keeping Carl in between them. There were bodies everywhere, and as deeper into the lower levels they got, the more ‘alive’ ones they found. 

“Should we split up?” Oscar asked as they arrived to an intersection, the silence until then somewhat comfortable. 

“Nah,” was Daryl’s answer, turning to look over his shoulder at the rest of them, “just check around, not far.” The taller man just nodded, as he motioned to Connor to follow him as they moved to the other end of the hallway.

As they spoke, a door started trying to open only to find a dead walker in front of it as a stop. “Should we get rid of that?” Oscar said as he raised his machete, looking at the archer for instructions. Slowly, Daryl approached the door, pushing it with his finger to see if there was any resistance; there was barely any. 

“Nah,” he looked at his companions, “there must be one or two of them, we must have missed them last night.  We’ll get rid of them on the way back.” With a last look at the door, Oscar and Connor continued on their way as Murphy moved behind Daryl to catch up with a clearly distracted Carl up ahead. 

“Hey,” Carl’s eyes went up at them as they reached him, “C’mon.” Murphy pushed him softly to continue on point beside Daryl ahead of him, covering them from the back.

“You know,” Daryl voice was his usual rough tone, but there was some sympathy underneath it, “my mom, she liked her wine.” Carl’s attention was on the hunter, his head tilted up to see the man as he spoke to him. “She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims. I was playing out with the kids in the neighborhood.” 

They continued walking down the corridor as he spoke, the sadness palpable in his words. “I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens getting louder.” Murphy swallowed, looking back to see if Connor was listening to the same thing he was; his brother’s eyes made contact with him and he just knew. 

“They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know? Hoping to see something worth seeing. I ran after them, but I couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends looking at me. Hell, I saw everybody looking at me.” 

Daryl kept on talking, moving from side to side of the hallway pretending to be on the lookout for walkers, “Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed burnt down to nothing.”

Murphy knew what Daryl was trying to do, he was in his way trying to empathize with the poor kid. He wasn’t sure how much it would work; Carl had been in an impossible situation. His heart broke though; it broke for the little boy he could picture looking just as he did at that age, looking on as his house burned down with his mother inside.

“That was the hard part. You know? She was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way. I don't know. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?” It wasn’t until then that Daryl dared to make eye contact with anyone again, and it was with Carl. The cold and sadness in the boy’s eyes hurt his heart in a way he couldn’t exactly comprehend. 

“I shot my mum,” Carl’s voice was monotonous, like he was just retelling something that someone had said to him, not something that had just happened to him less than 24 hours before, “she was out, she hadn’t turned yet, I ended it, it was real.” 

“I’m sorry about your mom,” Daryl swallowed as the boy lamented his mother’s death, the death that happened more than thirty years before trying to make him feel better even if his mother had just died.

“I’m sorry about yours.” Carl moved along just as Daryl muttered those words to him, allowing Murphy to take his place beside him. Daryl looked at him, expecting for him to say something but he simply nodded his head  before moving to catch up with Carl ahead of him.

He sighed as he looked back to see where the other two were, not knowing if he wanted the man who looked so much like him to breach the subject or not. With a hand motion he called Oscar and Connor back to the group, moving along towards yet another part of the prison.

“I think we’re almost done,” Connor muttered as they circled back to one of the side corridors they had passed earlier that day, “we just haven’t been through that one.”

As they walked through the remaining corridor, Oscar suddenly stopped before darting into one of the open cells with nothing but a laugh as a sign. “Look at this,” the happiness in his voice made Daryl and Carl turn and follow him in curiosity.

“What the hell do you need slippers for?” Daryl asked, sharing a look with Carl as they both looked as Oscar bent to pick up the somewhat battered but yet wearable slippers from beside the old toilet bowl.

“You know, for the end of the day. For relaxing.” The big man explained to Daryl as if it was the most obvious thing.

“Like what you are doing right now?” Murphy’s voice was heard from outside, followed by a grunt and the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. “Because really, it’s such a good time to be wondering about fucking slippers.” 

“Must have been at the cell in the end of the corridor,” Connor said, as Daryl and the rest of them left the cell, Oscar with the slippers in his hands. 

Daryl gave a quick look up and down to Murphy, to check if he was alright. The other man gave him a nod, rolling his eyes as soon as his attention was elsewhere. Something caught Daryl’s attention as he looked down to kick the dead walker on the side.  He crouched to look closer at it, before sighing and dropping his head as he realized what it was exactly.

“That’s Carol’s knife,” he said softly as he moved to take the small knife from where it was stuck in the walker’s neck. He grimaced when blood poured out where she had hit it the moment the knife was free, cleaning it in the dead body’s clothes before gripping it in his hand as he stood up. 

“I think we’re done here,” Connor and Murphy frowned as they heard Daryl’s tone of voice, just as he kept his back to them. “We can start moving the bodies later,” there was something in his voice that just wasn’t right, but neither Oscar nor Carl seemed to get it. 

“Alright,” the young boy said, bouncing in his feet slightly as he turned and started making his way back, not noticing how Daryl had not moved from his place at all. Oscar did notice, only to notice Connor shaking his head at him as he opened his mouth to say something. 

As their steps got quieter, the tension in the archer’s shoulders just seemed to rise. His knuckles were white on the grip of Carol’s knife, while his other hand grasped his crossbow almost as hard. “Daryl?” Murphy dared to ask, taking a step to get closer to him, hand raised to touch the other man’s back.

As he was about to touch him, Daryl flinched back, slashing the knife in front of him as if he was protecting himself from something, from someone. Connor was barely able to grab Murphy by the back of his overalls to keep him from getting hurt.

“Daryl!” Connor’s voice was loud, harsher, and that seemed to make the clearly spooked  man react somehow. His eyes were on them, something lurking behind them that neither brother could understand. “Daryl,” it was softer now, his hands were up as if to show him they didn’t have anything at hand to hurt him. 

Daryl’s chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He had forgotten where he was for a moment, all this thoughts on the fact that he had just found Carol’s knife somewhere it was not supposed to be. He was lost inside his mind as he wondered how scared she had been, how desperate, wondering if she had called out for him? If she had been in pain? He hadn’t meant to, he knew they were friendly, or as friendly as two other men could get. “I’m sorry,” He gasped out, trying to get his breathing under control.

“Don’t worry,” Murphy was the one who spoke up then, giving him a smile, “it happens.” He chuckled, turning slightly to look at Connor before turning to Daryl again, “I almost got shot in the head because of him once.”

“Murph,” Connor scolded at him as he saw Daryl look at them like they were crazy, “you’re not helping.” 

“You called me brother,” Daryl seemed to have calmed down, at least he was breathing normally then. “When we were at her grave,” he closed his eyes as if just the idea of her grave caused him physical pain, “you called me brother.”

The complete randomness of the words coming out of Daryl’s mouth unsettled them, the look of confusion in both of their faces making that clear as day. Daryl finally looked up at them, his eyes moving from Connor to fix on Murphy. “Is that why we look alike?”

“We don’t know,” the gesture in both Murphy and Daryl’s faces as they turned to him as he spoke was identical, and Connor couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “At least nothing other than that,” he pointed at the two of them, making them turn to look at the mirror image of themselves in front of them, “and the fact that you feel right.”

Daryl shook his head, scoffing, his eyes downcast again as if he couldn’t handle looking at them in the eyes. “It can’t be,” he said under his breath, as if he was trying to convince himself.

“Daryl,” Murphy moved closer to him, only to stop when he saw the other man flinch violently once again. “What else could it be?”

The redneck shrugged, his eyes still on the ground, as he bit his lip anxiously. “We don’t have to talk about it,” Connor threw Murphy a look as he saw his brother about to fight him over that, “we can just focus on something else.”

“Like what?” Daryl’s voice was rough, his chuckle completely lacking any kind of mirth, “like the fact that Carol is dead? That her knife was here while those fuckers ate every single part of her? That the only thing of her they left was a fucking scarf?”

The words were like ice water to the three of them, the loss of the gray haired woman still aching inside each of them. “Fuck this,” Daryl barked at them before turning on his heel and walking away, fury in each step he took.

“That went well.”

“Fucking shut your pie hole, asshole.”

.-.-.-.-

He walked back through every cleared corridor, trying to rid head of the thoughts going through it a mile a minute. He was mad, he was pissed off against the word, against them, against her. He had been somehow surviving, as he had always been, until she came along. 

He huffed and stopped, once he felt like he was far enough away from the brothers that he would be left alone. He looked at his surroundings, groaning as he saw all the bodies littered around, sneering as he kicked one that was close to him before dropping himself by the wall and sitting down. 

Daryl Dixon wasn’t the type to care. He was a Dixon, he came from a long line of drunks and assholes that did not gave a shit about anything, or anyone. His father, Buck, had been the biggest asshole of them all. He was a bully, a drunk and a man whore. His mother, he could barely remember her sometimes, had died when he was six, Merle in juvie, and only his ‘dad’ and Uncle Jesse there for him. His uncle was a little less of an asshole than the old man, but he was still not a good influence for a six-year-old. 

He was angry, he knew he was, he had always been angry at something or another, all of his life. But this moment, this specific moment he was angry because of her, angry at her. It all came down to her. If it hadn’t been for her, he would have left this group a long time ago, probably since before the farm fell; he would have left them in search of his good for nothing brother. But he had stayed, because of her.

Because of her, he was here wondering about having someone that could actually give a damn about him, who could actually have his back. But she wasn’t there, she was in the belly of one of those walkers, she was gone and he would never get to see her again. 

Carol, with her blue stormy eyes, her teasing, her bright smile and her ability to bring out the best in him. She had been the first person, probably since his ma, that had given him her trust. She would be so mad at him if she could see him now, pushing people away when it got too hard. Her words back at the farm flashed in his head, her anger as he tried to pull away, and that memory made him even angrier.  

“Who the fuck did you think you are?” He snarled at the empty corridor, crossing his legs as he sat against the wall. In his right hand he still had her knife, clutched like a lifeline. “Fuck!” He slammed his head back against the wall, the pain bringing him some kind of calm. The door at the end of the corridor started trying to open once again, making noise as it hit the dead walker in front of it. He ignored it.

“I hate you,” his voice broke as the muttered those words, he felt as if his throat tight, as if at any moment he wouldn’t be able to draw more air. “Who did you think you are?” He asked the empty corridor again, as he laid his head against the wall and looked up, trying to keep the tears that had already fallen once that day at bay.  

Who was she? She was his best friend, she was his confidant, she was his partner in crime. She was the only person who had taken the time to really get to know him, who had become his first friend since he could remember. She had been someone he trusted, someone he had dared to love, someone he had wondered if he could be in love with, she had been someone to him. And that was on him, he was the one that let her in, he was the one that wasn’t there for her this time. 

The door from before kept on slamming, and it started getting on his already frayed nerves. BAM, the door hit the body and he slammed the knife against the concrete under him. BAM, the door slammed and he slammed the knife against the wall beside him. BAM, he stood up. BAM he walked towards the door and kicked it in, an angry yell leaving him as he did so. BAM, he turned to leave through where he came from. BAM, he was sick of it. BAM he turned back, grabbed the body in front of the door and pulled it away. The door opened slowly; he walked around it, knife at the ready. There was nothing coming out of it; he pulled the door open all the way and looked down.  And that was when his world shifted on its axis once again.

Pale blue eyes looked up from under barely open lids, tiredness, pain, everything was etched in that face. He fell to his knees, his hand trembling as he put it under her chin. He had to be sure, he wouldn’t be able to handle it if it wasn’t real, he knew that. Softly he turned her face up, her eyes fell on his, and a small smile appeared on her chapped lips. He reached out for her and as he put an arm under her legs, and another under her shoulder, for the second time that day, Daryl Dixon prayed. 

  
  
  



	6. When the Dead Come Knocking

Chapter 6

When the Dead Come Knocking

The first thing Carol realized as she tried to open her eyes, was suddenly that inconsequential things seemed a lot harder than ever. The second thing, was the feeling of extreme thirst that tried to take over every single one of her senses; the third was the fact that she was burrowed into something warm and in movement. 

“We’re almost there,” a whisper broke the silence around her, a man’s voice, to which all she could do was moan in pain as she was finally conscious enough to be overwhelmed by the feeling of a pounding headache. Bright light hit her face as she barely opened her eyes, making her groan and try to hide her face in the neck of the person carrying her, hearing as he shushed her while he continued to move silently but efficiently. 

“Here,” his voice was low, but she would know that voice everywhere. Her memories were slightly fuzzy, but she knew it had been almost a day, or at least she thought so, since she had been stuck inside that place. She felt as he put her down in one of the cots, the rim of bottle against her lips soon after. “Just some sips, easy,” she wanted to drink the whole thing, but he took it away before she could take more. 

“Fuck, woman,” he muttered; she felt as he ran his rough hands over her hair as he slowly settled her back into the bed. The nausea together with the headache was making it slightly difficult for her to be completely there. “Thought you were dead.” 

She wasn’t sure if he was actually saying those words because he meant for her to hear them, or he had thought she was too far gone to be actually able to understand them. She desperately wanted to see him, see his blue eyes looking at her like only his did. Well, maybe his and Murphy’s, but only his with that intensity that made her blood sing. “Hey,” she muttered as she was finally able to open her eyes, only to see him kneeling on the floor by her head, looking down at her, with one of his hands centimeters from her arm, but not touching her, while he rested the other against one of the side supports for the top bunk. “I’m like a kitten,” her voice was raspy, and her throat felt like fire because of the dehydration, “nine lives.”

The chuckle she got from him was everything at that moment, and it was something she would cherish for a long time inside of her heart. “Daryl,” the moment his name passed her lips once again, he felt like he was going to die. Something in his chest clenched, and he felt like he couldn’t breathe for a moment, the feeling not quite unlike the one he had felt the day before when he had thought he had lost her, but he didn’t understand it. This time she was here, saying his name, something he had thought he had lost for good. 

He made a noise to let her know he was listening; if he was honest, he doubted he could actually say anything at that moment. “T-Dog,” the pain in her voice was raw, and he ached for her. He sighed, touching the back of her hand in acknowledgment, letting her know in his own way that he knew about his fallen friend. He saw her face as she grimaced and swallowed.  He was brought back to what was needed to be done, and he moved back to let her have a couple of more sips of water, knowing he should be out there looking for Hershel so he could examine her, but for once being a little greedy and keeping her for himself if only for a few moments. 

He was so focused on her, that it wasn’t until he saw her startle that he realized he could hear the sounds of shots being fired out in the yard. He tensed, but continued on his task of trying to help her as much as he could. “Go,” her tired blue eyes met his, before he turned his face to look out the open door, shaking his head as he returned to his task. “They might need you there.”

“Nah,” he shook his head, tipping the bottle so she could drink a little more, “everyone is out there, twins are good shot.” Minutes passed then in silence, only broken every handful of seconds as Daryl continued to help her drink more water. The best way he could describe what was happening was that she was like a plant, a plant without water and he could already see changes of improvement from when he had found her not yet an hour before, and he was grateful for that. 

The silence was broken suddenly, both of them moving at their own pace towards the door as they heard Rick barge into the cell block barking orders to everyone who followed him. He moved towards the door, putting an arm back towards her to motion for her to stay as he saw from the corner of his eye that she was trying to move to join him. He shook his head as he slowly exited her cell, frowning as he was greeted with the scene  when he reached the common area. 

“Rick?” Daryl asked as he approached most of their group. Rick had a black woman in dreadlocks in a hold against the ground. He could feel, more than actually see, the other two men looking at him, but after what had happened at the tombs he just couldn’t even look at them. “Who the hell is this?”

“She was outside,” Murphy answered, always the one who couldn’t stay quiet. “She had a basket with things for little asskicker with her.” He had walked towards the man who bore the same face as him without even noticing, stopping suddenly when Daryl took a step away from him, without having actually even acknowledge the fact that he had talked to him. 

“Wanna tell us your name?” Rick asked once again to the woman on the ground under him, her black eyes looked wildly around the room as if trying to find a way out. Daryl noticed that, as well as he noticed some kind of unhinged look in Rick’s eyes as well, something that had been there since the day before. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one who felt concerned about the change in their leader, as he saw as both brothers shifted on their feet as Rick suddenly stood up. “Everything all right?” His eyes were still on the woman, but his words were directed to Daryl. 

Daryl shifted from one foot to the other, “You’ll want to see this,” he muttered, taking a step further inside the cell block as Connor now had joined Murphy in standing closer to him than everyone else. 

“She doesn’t come into the cell block,” Rick said to everyone, as they all started to shuffle towards it. “Carl, get the basket.” 

Daryl stood his ground as he waited until everyone entered the cell block behind him. He shifted once again as the brothers walked pass him, not sure if he wanted to stay away from them or just move closer. He watched silently as Rick talked to the woman, swallowing as he finally recognized what he had been seeing in her eyes; she was scared to death, that had been a look he had seen in the mirror more than once in his lifetime. He kept his eyes on her as Rick moved back towards him, letting him go through before moving and closing the steel door behind him. There was just something that said to him that she was to be trusted, and if he had learnt anything in the last few months, was that he had good instincts for this kind of thing. 

His head went immediately to what his gut had been telling him about the McManus, but this time, he chose to just push those thoughts back into the deepest parts of his mind. He shook his head as he moved ahead of the group, passing by and avoiding even touching Connor, he just had other things to consider instead of him at the moment. Rick fell into step besides him, as he moved further into the back of the block. “What is it?” The former officer asked him, to that he only shook his head as he motioned to the open cell under the stairs. 

All he could focus on was the mischievous small smile she gave Rick the moment the younger man first saw her. Her blue eyes were filled with mirth, like she found it way too funny that they had thought her dead, that it had been all a joke. The apprehension that had taken over his chest started to disappear as he saw her stand up shakily as Rick pulled her into his arms, a small smile appeared on his face as he saw her standing on her own two feet once again. “Holy Mary Mother of God,” he heard from slightly behind him as both brothers arrived with the rest of the group to see as the other two embraced. 

He dared to look at them at their words. Their eyes, were not on him for once, they both looked mesmerized by the picture in front of them; and somehow he understood what they were feeling. As much as he didn’t want to deal with them, he had to give them the fact that they had also mourned her. 

As she finally let go of Rick and moved to hug the next person, Hershel, he looked back to their leader, finding a little part of the old Rick back in his eyes. “She fought her way into one of the cells, found her almost passed out, dehydrated.” The cries of the baby pulled her out of her embrace with Hershel, her eyes looking from the baby to a smiling Beth who was holding her, but then back to the grieving eyes of a widower. 

She found her answer in those eyes, and the few tears she could manage in her actual state made their way down her cheeks. Her hand went to Rick’s neck, bringing his head down to kiss his forehead as she tried to console her friend, to console the husband of one of her best friends. 

No one noticed how Carl was shifting uncomfortably in the outside of the little reunion. No one but Murphy. The older man said nothing to the boy, but his presence behind him and a hand on the shoulder brought more comfort for the now motherless boy, than his own father had given him in the last 24 hours. 

Carol moved from Rick to Beth and the baby, the pain in her heart almost rivaled by the hope that the little baby in front of her gave her. Beth was teary eyed, and started babbling as soon as she approached. “You can carry her if you want to,” she said softly, as she made the motion to pass the baby to her. 

“She needs to rest right now Bethie,” Hershel said, noticing how the three men outside the cell had all moved slightly forward as that had happened. “She needs to drink more water, eat something and sleep, she can do that later.”

Carol nodded, touching the baby’s blanket softly as Hershel pushed Beth softly back towards their own cell, where the made up crib was stationed at the moment. Carl said nothing as he approached Carol, only putting his arms around her and hugging her tightly silently. Carol seemed to know something had happened by instinct, her arms moving to answer the hug just as tightly. And just as he came, he was gone, silently moving towards the front of the block and towards where he could keep an eye on their newest visitor. Carol noticed how neither father nor son made  eye contact with each other, and that worried her. 

Daryl shook his head as she turned to look at him, to which she gave him a sad smile in return. They would have to go through what had happened later, they had to, but not right then. Rick patted her shoulder as he moved out of the cell, following his son’s footsteps. She watched him go with sorrow in her soul, sending a prayer for her friend’s soul as she did so. 

A soft caress on her arm brought her back to the present, and the smile she gave in return to Murphy when she finally looked at him was as real as it could be. Daryl, meanwhile, tried to clamp down the jealousy he knew he was feeling as he saw, first Murphy and then Connor, draw her into their arms for a soft hug. It was not only jealousy over the fact that she cared for this two men enough to allow them to hug her, but it was also the way both men, as hardened as they were because of their previous history, they still could be soft enough to hug her with such tenderness. 

“A true God Given miracle,” Connor said softly as he pulled back, to be able to look down at her blue eyes, his hand caressing her cheek. Carol in turn, couldn’t do anything but smile back, sighing as the Irishman moved to plant a soft kiss over her forehead. Daryl couldn’t help but huff and roll his eyes as the words reached his ears, making Carol laugh as she pulled back and slowly swatted his arm. 

Murphy looked from his brother, to Carol, to Daryl, and grinned. There was just something that felt so right about that moment, that he just couldn’t put into words. He made eye contact with Daryl for the first time since they had left him earlier that day, and the other man broke the contact as soon as it had happened. “Come on, love, doctor’s orders,” Connor said softly as he slightly pushed her back into the cell, towards the cot. 

“Food,” was all that Daryl muttered before turning on his heel and leaving the brothers with Carol, trying not to stomp away in frustration. It wasn’t that he hated them, not really, but they were something he didn’t want to think about; their presence made his head spin, and his head couldn’t handle any other feelings that day other than the fact that she was there, she was back. He did somewhat stomp his way up to his perch in a mission to get back to Carol as soon as possible, with the package of cookies he knew she liked he had hidden among his things. 

“Daryl,” His head snapped towards where Rick was standing, together with Hershel as the former police officer motioned towards where their newest visitor was still waiting for them. He nodded, sighing as he stood up with his back to them, trying to put up his game face once again. He threw the cookie package at Murphy as he walked down the stairs, nodding to the oldest McManus as if that sealed some kind of pact among them.

And with that he put his heart to the side, and followed Rick and Hershel back outside the cell block. 

.-.-.-.-

“Where did he even get this?” Murphy asked smiling as he walked back into the cell Carol was once again lying down in. Connor was sitting in the cot, his back against the wall, while he had Carol’s head resting on his thighs, letting her use them as a pillow. “That looks cosy,” Murphy teased her as he sat down in the overturned bucket Daryl had been using as a seat while he had been there. 

“Dixon sent you this,” both brother’s chuckled as they saw her eyes almost sparkle the moment she saw the chocolate cookies Murphy had in his hands. The brother’s chatted lightly as Carol munched away on some of the cookies from the package, only to stop whenever one of the brothers passed her one of the water bottles Daryl had left there earlier. Her eyes started drooping after her fourth cookie, and the brothers stopped keeping her from falling asleep after she had finished the second water bottle. 

It hadn’t been more than ten minutes since she had fallen into sleep, when Daryl’s stomping could be heard making its way towards the cell. Connor moved his hands, that somehow had ended up caressing one of her stray gray strands of her, to her shoulder, moving her lightly so she would start to wake before the angry redneck made her jump as he loudly made his way inside the cell. 

“What’s wrong?” her body tense immediately, as if reacting to Daryl’s own body language. 

“Someone took Glenn and Maggie,” Daryl growled, his eyes going from Carol, to Connor, to Murphy, and back towards the opposite wall; as if he couldn’t even bare to let his eyes stay still. 

“What are we doing about it?” her words made Daryl finally focus only on her, noticing how her eyes looked less sunken and how she looked more awake. 

“We?” he scoffed shaking his head as he moved closer to her, dropping into a crouch besides her feet, patting her boot as if making sure she was really there and it wasn’t in his imagination. “You are staying here, and getting some rest, we?” he motioned towards the two men with his chin, “we’re meeting the others to see what we decide.”

“I don’t need sleep,” Carol muttered, giving Murphy a small smile as he jumped in to help her up as soon as she tried to sit up. 

“You were almost passed out when I found you,” Daryl searched Connor’s and then Murphy’s eyes to try and find some kind of support to try and talk her into resting at least for a bit. “You are starving and dehydrated.”

“I’m feeling better now,” she tried to not feel weird at the loss of Daryl’s touch on her foot as she moved to put them on the floor. “I’ll at least join the meeting; is not like I would be any help if I go.”

“Carol,” Her attention moved from Daryl to Connor, looking at him to where he had moved to be sitting shoulder to shoulder with her. “Daryl’s right, you need to rest.”

“And I will,” her eyes moved from Connor, to Murphy, until they rested on Daryl once again, “but right now, I’m going to join you and you will let me.”

Her eyes didn’t leave Daryl’s as she tried to show him, at least this way, that she might be hurt but  was not broken. She needed this, she was not going to lay back while they decided whatever was about to happen with their family. She could see how Daryl’s eyes softened, just before he gave her a small smile and nodded at her. 

“Ain’t no kitten, a lioness,” the smile Daryl got as answer to their previous conversation was blinding and he stiffened to try and not allow his to broaden even more. He could not forget that the other two men were there with them, but at the moment he wanted to. 

Carol grunted as she pushed the twins’ hands away when they tried to help her as she got to her feet. Grinning even more at Daryl as she was able to with just a little swaying. The archer just shook his head as he watched her walk past him, leaving the three men looking at her with awe as she left the cell. That woman was just something else.

This time around, the moment Beth offered her the baby, after sitting herself on the steps of the metal staircase just in case, she received the precious bundle with a smile on her face. She heard as everyone around her started to talk about what they were going to do, but she couldn’t help but block them out as she looked down at the newborn in her arms. Little ass kicker, she chuckled softly at the name she had been told Daryl had given to the baby, was on the little side; Sophia had been a big baby, long and heavy, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart at the thought of her baby girl. 

Her attention was brought back as she heard Daryl declare that he was going to get them back, not that it was something that surprised her, she knew he was probably the first one in line to go and get the rest of their family back.  Her smile turned bittersweet when Beth proclaimed her intentions of joining them, quickly followed by the rest of the group, inmates included. 

“No,” Rick said, his voice strong as he tried to convey the message of being in charge. He looked at the people surrounding them, throwing a look at Carol in the back holding his daughter in her arms. “We can’t leave Hershel, Carol and Carl alone in here.”

“Also,” Daryl’s quiet yet rough voice continued from where Rick had left of, looking at everyone around the circle, “this is no mission for rookies, we need people that know how to handle themselves in case we need them to.”

“But she’s my sister,” Beth’s said with a frustrated tone, as she took a step closer to where Daryl was standing. Carol noticed how Daryl stiffened at her confrontational tone, and she wasn’t the only one. 

“She might be, lass,” Connor said as he moved slightly to get Beth’s attention to shift onto him instead of Daryl. “But that doesn’t mean you know shit about shooting a gun.” The glare he got from the teenager as a result of his comment did nothing to him, but he knew that it would have made Daryl rather uncomfortable.

“They’re right, Beth.” Carol’s calm voice made the girl stop glaring at Connor, to turn and look at her. “We need them at their best, if we go, we’ll just slow them down.”

It was a testament to the growing up she had done when she didn’t stomp out of the meeting in a huff, instead she nodded in acceptance, not before throwing one last hate filled look at the oldest of the MacManus.

“You’re not going either,” Axel nodded as Rick ordered him, relieved that he wouldn’t really be needed. 

“Neither are you.” The moment those words passed his lips, as he was looking at the MacManus brothers, hell broke loose. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Murphy, always more hot headed than his brother, immediately jumped in. “There’s no fucking way you’re leaving us out of this shit.” Daryl took a step in between Rick and Murphy, pushing his shoulder against the man bearing the same face as him. “No fucking way.”

Connor sighed softly as he moved to hold back his brother, pulling him back while pushing Daryl away at the same time. “If he’s going,” he was talking to Rick but looking at Daryl, “we’re going.”

“I need you to stay here,” Rick’s words made the three men stop staring at each other and turn to look at the former officer. Carol tried to keep herself from smiling at the slightly startled look on Rick’s face at the synchronicity of the movement between them. 

“We need to be stealthy, we don’t know in what state we’re going to find them, so we need to be fast. We need to take the Tucson, but we can’t all fit in,” He eyed the brothers as they seemed to start to deflate at his carefully chosen words, “I’m going, Daryl and we’re taking her with us,” they all knew who ‘she’ was. “That leaves place for one more, since we’re bringing back two people.”

“I’ll go,” Connor said, as he patted Murphy on the chest as he said the words, “Murph will stay to hold on to the fort.” 

“Con,” Murphy’s voice was barely above a whisper, as he protested at the thought of having his twin leave his sight. 

“No,” the deep voice of Oscar, broke the silence that had followed. “I’ll go, have them stay here to keep everyone else safe, I’m good with a gun too.” 

“It’s settled then,” Rick said with finality as he gave the twins a look when Connor opened his mouth to protest. “We leave as soon as we get everything prepared, let’s move people.” 

Carol smiled at Beth as the girl went over to her and took the baby from her arms under the pretense of almost being time for her to be fed, even if Carol knew it was more of a comfort thing to her so she could go and lick her wounds in private over not being allowed to go with the rest of the group. Her eyes moved to follow Daryl as he moved to follow Rick, not saying a word to anyone as if nothing of importance had happened just moments before; as if he hadn’t had two people fighting over the right to be able to go and cover his back. 

“Do you want to go back to the cell?” Connor asked as he moved to stand in front of her, his hand out waiting for hers so he could help her stand up. 

“He’ll come around,” she said as she let him help her, her free hand reaching to pat Murphy on his arm as they started walking. “He’s just not used to being looked after,” the sad smile Connor gave her broke her heart a little bit. The three of them walked pass the cell where Daryl had put her earlier that day, not stopping and continuing towards the path that would take them outside to see the rest of their group go. 

At Rick’s signal, and with a pat on her shoulder, the brothers moved to help with the preparations for the trip. She accepted the baby back when Beth gave it to her, as she too was recruited to help as well. 

A few minutes later after she saw as Daryl close the trunk of the small green car, she felt her throat start to close up. There was a feeling in her gut, and it just wouldn’t leave her alone. She felt some relief as Connor and Murphy once again gravitated to her side, chuckling lightly as Murphy started to coo at the rather attentive newborn in her arms. 

A soft touch at her elbow made her look up from the baby’s face, only to stare directly into the intense blue eyes of her best friend. “Stay safe,” he murmured as he looked at her, biting his lip slightly, before turning to look away but not moving from her side. 

“Nine lives, remember?” was her answer, which seemed to satisfy him since with another soft squeeze to her elbow, and without even giving the men beside her any of his attention he made his way to the passenger side of the small green Tucson. 

-.-.-.

The silence inside the cell block once they came back in was unsettling. Carol bounced the baby up and down as she walked trying to keep her calm, since she had started fussing the moment the car had left the prison. 

“Babies are good at feeding from what we’re feeling,” she said softly to Carl as the boy looked anxiously at the bundle that was his baby sister. “You’re just feeling a little worried over everyone, aren’t you lil asskicker?”

“Judith,” Carol looked up as Carl said the baby’s name for the first time, “her name is going to be Judith.”

“Judith,” she repeated smiling down at the now sleeping baby, “it fits her.” 

.-.-.

Daryl tried not to think too much of what, or better yet, whom he had left back in the prison as they made their way to Woodbury in the small car. Silence reigned as Rick pushed the little car to its extremes trying to get to the town Michonne had told them about as fast as possible.  Who knew what would they find once they got there.

As much as Daryl felt an obligation to come and be part of the rescue mission for two of their own, there was also the part of him trying to get away from certain people that had been left behind. He had been happy when Rick didn’t let the twins join them, the last thing he needed was to be distracted by the fact that he had no idea how in the world they were related to each other; and the apparent decision those two had made of actually trying to do something about it.

And also Carol. The feelings that woman caused in him, the pain in his chest that had been constant since the moment he thought he had lost her for good was now filled with a different kind of pain. And he couldn’t put into words what it was; he didn’t want to. Nothing good ever happened to a Dixon, and for him it was enough to have her back, there was nothing else he needed in his life but for her to be in it.  

So it was better that he was away for a while, it would give him time as well as a chance to let go of all the pent up energy he seemed to have. Just as it gave him some peace of mind the fact that they had left two really capable people other than Carol behind to look after everyone, it had been a good decision.

When Rick stopped a few minutes later, Daryl took a deep breath before opening the passenger door, putting his feelings and thoughts away for the time being; they had two family members to bring back home. Things would either resolve themselves later on, or they wouldn’t… but right then it was time to kick some ass and get Glenn and Maggie back. 

  
  
  
  



	7. Made to Suffer

Chapter VII

Made To Suffer

 

“You need to get back into that bed, love, and get some sleep for God’s sake,” Murphy muttered as he watched Carol move around trying to put something together for them to eat as dinner while the rest of the group littered around doing nothing. 

“I can do this, Murph,” the way the nickname flowed from her lips made the youngest McManus smile softly, “I’m alright.”

“You were almost passed out not to long ago,” Carol shook her head as Connor butted in, his voice softer and more placating than his brother’s. 

“I’m good,” she finally stopped, turning to look at where both brothers were standing a few feet behind her, as if standing guard. “It was just a little over a day, I’m still a little thirsty but I promise you, I’m drinking plenty of water and I’m making food so I can eat something too.”

“From what we’ve been told, you looked worse for wear love.” The worry behind their words, as well as the way both of them were looking at her made her eyes sting with unshed tears. How could these two men, who up till a little over a week ago had been complete strangers to her, come to care so much for her in such little time? Because that’s what it was, they cared and for someone who before this whole thing had started had no one other than her daughter, it was something special.

“I have claustrophobia,” she took a deep breath as she continued her explanation, “it was dark, and it was small.” Connor was not surprised at all when his brother left his side to grab Carol’s hand in a show of support, Murphy had always been the more emotional out of the two. 

“I think I hyperventilated while in there, passed out.” She grimaced as she tried not to let the emotions of the last 24 hours get a hold of her, “I can just remember bits and pieces, I wasn’t completely there when Daryl found me.”

Murphy said nothing, he simply pulled  her by the hand  until she was snuggled up in his arms, closing his eyes as he felt her return the embrace. Connor just smiled as he looked at them as he took the other hand Carol was offering him, squeezing it softly. 

“Alright,” with a sigh Carol pushed Murphy away with her free hand, dropping Connor’s hand as she did so. “We need to set up who’s going to be on guard, and after what happened yesterday I think it might be better if we do it during the day too.”

.-.-.-

Night had fallen onto them, and after that small encounter with the crazy ass person in the hut, Daryl felt as all the nerves and energy he had been able to maintain under control so far were about to explode. 

The place, Woodbury, seemed to be everything Michonne had told them it was. There were walls, and people on watch, but the woman was confident she could get them in; and they would have to trust her. 

“Dammit,” Rick muttered, Daryl looked as the black woman disregarded Rick’s orders and took off into the night. Daryl sighed as he looked once again to the people guarding the walls, feeling a pang of regret of not having the twins there with them at that time. Those two fuckers were pretty good shots. 

“There’s no way we’re going to be able to search all the buildings,” the three men had moved back, away from the light that could expose them. “We need to downsize,” Rick said in a low voice, as Daryl kept trying to count the amount of people waiting for them on top of the wall. 

“There’s no way we can take them all, not with this.” Oscar had started to speak, when a sound was heard from behind them, making the three of them jump into attention bringing their guns up. 

Daryl glared as Michonne looked at them, slightly rolling her eyes at their panicked response. With signs, she motioned them to follow her, and at Rick’s muttered words, they did. 

He couldn’t help but scoff as they arrived to their destination. As much as this place seemed secure, there were some really obvious breaches in their security. Daryl grunted as he followed Rick through the opening of the door that had been boarded up once, looking around as they made their way into what seemed to be a pantry. 

The environment of the place, as he moved across and towards the front, gave him weird feelings. The people just walking around as if there didn’t had any concerns in the street, the plants of corn growing there... it just felt wrong. 

They were still arguing about where to start the search when a man walked in on them. One of the residents, just happened to enter the storage room, not having any idea of what was waiting for him inside. It was only the group’s quick thinking that allowed them to be able to silence him before it was too late. And Daryl couldn’t help but let a thought about what Carol had once told him, about being Rick’s henchman, run through his mind as he knocked the man out unconscious. 

That was the last thought Daryl allowed himself about her for the time being. They had more important things than whatever his mind came up with at that moment. They still needed to find Maggie and Glenn.

-.-.-

Carol had lied. It might not have been an outright lie when she told the twins that she didn’t completely remember her time in the small cell down there in the tombs, because she had passed out more than once because of a panic attack, but she was a lot more tired than she was trying to let on. 

Hershel had seemed to catch on her lie, and she wasn’t surprised that he had done so. The brothers, as sweet as they were to her, didn’t know her that well and with a smile and a half assed promise, she had been able to send them away to work on what needed to be done. Hershel had just shaken his head, a small smile on his face, as he followed the two brothers outside for one last quick check on the perimeter. 

It was the reason why Carol had been left alone with the two teenagers, the baby and Axel. That and the fact that the three men had somewhat told her in their own words to get some more rest. 

“You’re really good with her,” Carol heard Axel’s voice as she walked towards what once had been hers and Lori’s cell. She frowned as she realized that the only people there, other than her, were Carl and Beth… and that didn’t seem to be directed to Carl. 

Her footsteps were silent as she approached the cell where Daryl had put her on earlier that day, frowning as she heard Axel’s voice once again after what seemed like enough time for him to get an answer from Beth. “Did you have any younger siblings?”

There was something in his tone that just didn’t sit well with her, and the moment she looked into the cell she knew what was it. Carl was standing to the side, his body was tense but in a way that made Carol think he didn’t even know the reason why, but she knew. “No,” Beth’s sweet voice answered the older man, and Carol glared at him from where she was standing at the door.

“How old are you anyway,” a smile tried to threaten to appear on her face as she saw Carl cross his arms and glare at the older man at his question. The boy was full of anger, and he was not stupid, he knew something was not quite right about all this.

“Seventeen,” Beth was too innocent sometimes. This was a man, preying on a child, and maybe she couldn’t do much to protect these children from whatever was out there, but for sure she would protect them from what was in there with them.

“Seventeen, interesting.” Carol tried not to gag as she saw the way Axel looked at Beth.  There was no reason, ever, for a grown man to be looking at a child like that. 

“May I speak with you?” She tried to keep her tone light, tried to uncoil the tension in her body so Beth wouldn’t catch on what was going on. She saw, from the side of her eye as Carl’s eyes followed her every movement, and she gave him a quick look and a smile before turning her sight back on Axel. The boy didn’t need any more troubles in his young soul, with what had happened was enough. 

“Me?” Axel threw a nervous look around, finally noticing both Carol’s and Carl’s glares. The terse nod he got from Carol as an answer was enough to get him on his feet, gulping down as he saw the older woman leave the cell. “I’ll be right back,” he muttered to Beth as he followed Carol out, not seeing that the moment he left the room, Carl moved to sit on his spot beside Beth.

Carol closed her fist as she walked further away from the cell, and towards the back of the block. She knew the kids were still within hearing distance, but she hoped they wouldn’t pry. Her hands were sweaty, and shaking slightly but she tried to not let that show as she turned once she reached the staircase. 

“What’s the problem?” Axel was smiling as he reached her, and the need to slap that look from his face was just below the surface. 

“Stay away from her,” her voice was harsh and unforgiving, and it made the blonde man frown and take a small step away from her. He scoffed, turning to the side as to throw a glance to the cell where the girl was, opening his arms as if he was claiming innocence.

“Please,” she was sure that if she hadn’t been glaring at him, he would have laughed at her.

“Don’t even think about trying to repopulate the earth,” there was more than a promise in her eyes, and he wasn’t as stupid as to not be able to see it.

“I didn’t mean no offence,” Carol gave him a contempt look, she knew where this was going. “I’ve been locked up for a long time, and there were no women, do you follow me?” He was grasping straws; she could see that. “Maggie, she’s with Glenn; and you’re a lesbian,”

Her laugh couldn’t be contained, shaking her head as she surprised even herself. “I’m not a lesbian,” she stopped herself from saying what the rest of that sentence as it had appeared in her mind. The dirty old man didn’t need any ideas, nor did she really want to think about them like that. 

“But you have the short hair?” He made a motion with his hand as if to emphasize his point, and she couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head at him. “You’re not a lesbian?” There was surprise on his voice, and again she had to stop herself from explaining to him explicitly how much not of a lesbian she was. “My, my, that makes this interesting…” she saw how he changed in front of her eyes, the look of lust that appeared while he tried to play it cool as he leaned over the banister giving her a slimy smile.

“No, it’s not,” she shuddered as she moved past him, feeling his eyes on her backside as she walked away. She might have appeared  unmoved by him; women always needed to do so to stop creeps like Axel from trying anything, but the way he has looked at her made her skin ache in disgust. 

“Hey,” she was walking back towards the door, eyes down, when Connor’s greeting brought her out of her reverie. She saw how he frowned as soon as she raised her eyes to his, that man was just as observant as Daryl; but it was even worse because he was definitely more attuned to emotions than her best friend. “He bothering you?” Connor asked as he threw a glare to Axel over her shoulder, smirking when he saw the blonde man jump slightly as he finally raised his eyes from Carol’s ass. 

“I can take care of myself,” the tone of her voice, together with the way she crossed her arms in front of her made him stop for a moment to really look at her. She not only looked tired, but also defeated in a way.

“I know,” she couldn’t look at him as she felt him touch her arm softly, cupping her elbow and pulling her closer to him. “I’m not saying you can’t, I just know him and he’s a little sniveling arsehole.”

Her chuckle seemed to calm something within him, as did her blue eyes as she looked up at him before. There was the usual sadness behind them, but they definitely looked lighter than a couple of hours before. “I found him sniffing around Beth.”

“Motherfucker,” his muttered curse just made her laugh, and he couldn’t help but feel a little proud of that fact. 

“I already warned him off,” she rolled her eyes, huffing as she saw the blonde man still staring at them from afar. “But I don’t trust him.”

“And you shouldn’t.”

“I don’t want him to sleep here tonight,” she sighed, raising a hand and rubbing her forehead. The outside door opened, allowing Hershel passage inside once again. 

They shared a look understanding that the topic needed to be dropped, the older man’s health was not optimal and having him try and handle the blonde man together with everything else, it couldn’t possibly good for it. “Your brother said he’ll stay there until midnight, that you should take over after.”

“Axel and I will take over.” Hershel raised an eyebrow as he looked at Carol at her words. The blonde man had not been silent when he more than once, mentioned how bad of a shot he really was, if he had ever actually fired a gun before in his life. 

“Carol,” Connor muttered softly, frowning as he looked down at her. “You need rest.”

“And he needs to learn how to shoot,” the stubbornness in her eyes made the corner of his mouth start to rise slightly, what a woman. 

“But you need to sleep.”

“I’ll sleep there,” Hershel gave her a suspicious look, before turning and leaving the two of them to figure out the rest.

“I’m not leaving you alone asleep with him,” Connor hissed, getting closer to Carol as they both watched Hershel hop away. 

“You are not letting me do anything, Connor MacManus.”

The tone on her voice let him know a lot of things, and to be honest, he enjoyed every single one of them. The grin that Carol got as an answer to her words, was definitely not what she had been expecting. 

“Alright,” he nodded, still grinning as he looked back at where the blonde man was looking inside the cell where the children were. “But if he gropes you in your sleep, it’s on you.”

Her chuckle at the sound he made as she buried her elbow on his side, made Hershel smile and shake his head. It was good to have her back from the dead. 

.-.-.

The moment the smoke filled the room as they fought their way to their friends, Daryl’s gut gave a somersault. There was something wrong with the scene, there was something that did not feel quite right. The surprise factor the smoke grenade gave them allowed them to leave unharmed, without having to actually kill anyone, as the people in Woodbury tried to recover and shoot at them as they ran away.

They made their way through the shadows, him as one of the best shots as well as one of the most observant ones, keeping watch as Maggie and Oscar practically had to carry Glenn between them. The Korean man looked worse for wear, the damage done to him was extensive and for some reason, and as he gave him a quick look over as they stopped inside an empty house, somewhat familiar. 

Daryl continued to run at the front of his group to back to the house, the adrenaline of the whole situation making him unable to stay still. He offered to go out to look for Michonne, not liking one bit the idea of leaving her behind as Rick said the words; he didn’t leave people behind, never. 

“Daryl,” Glenn’s pain filled grunt made him focus on the younger man, “it was Merle.” He could see as the Korean kept on talking, but there was just something inside of him that couldn’t exactly process what came after his initial words. Merle? His brother? Was alive and there? It was just something he was unable to process with all the blood and adrenaline rushing through his system at the time. 

He looked on as Maggie helped Glenn get dressed, his face was just blank as he tried to understand what was coming out of the man’s mouth. “My brother is the Governor?” There was incredulity in his voice, Merle wasn’t stupid but he had no self-control to be able to get something like Woodbury off the ground, he would have fucked and drank it all before nightfall if he was in charge. 

“He’s not, it’s somebody else,” the hate in Maggie’s voice didn’t even register. All he could think was that Merle was alive, that his family was still alive. “He’s his lieutenant or something.”

“Does he know I’m still with you?” There was a part of Daryl that would never stop looking up to his older brother. He would be eighty and the feeling that Merle would be there if something happened to him would still linger; even if Merle had stopped being there for him before his age was in double digits. 

“He does now.” The pressure he had felt the day before in his chest was back, and he couldn’t focus. He had to move towards the back of the house as everyone around him ran around, trying to get the feeling to let him breath. This time there was no Connor or Murphy, or even Carol, to help him with it, and the longing he felt inside for them somewhat rivaled the one he felt for Merle and that scared the shit out of him. But he needed his brother, now.

He saw as Rick helped Maggie pull Glenn up, and he knew his time was up. “If Merle’s around, I...” the pressure in his chest felt like bursting, and he hated the fact that he was always easily brought to tears when it came to this shit, “I need to see him.”

“Not right now,” Rick’s face was almost in front of his, the harshness in his voice wasn’t something he expected. “We’re in enemy territory.”

Daryl shook his head slightly, his face confused and sad as he tried to understand the situation. “He’s my brother, I ain’t…”

“Look what he’s done,” the tone and the way Rick threateningly took a step forward made Daryl start shaking slightly as he took a step back. “We got to get out of here, we got to get out of here, NOW!”

Daryl shook his head; this was his brother they were talking about. “But I got to talk to him, I could work something out…” his voice was pleading with the former officer, his heart breaking at the thought of leaving his brother behind yet again. 

“No, no, no, no,” Daryl took a step back, flinching when he noticed Rick had raised a hand to touch his arm. “You’re not thinking straight,” Daryl tried to take a breath, to try and get the feeling inside his chest to lessen a little bit as Rick turned to look at Maggie and Glenn over his shoulder. “No matter what they say, they are hurt and we need to get them out of here and back to the prison.”

He could see as Rick continued talking, as he moved his lips to say things to him, but his brain was just not processing that. Merle was alive. “I need you,” Rick’s words made sense, but there was just something not right. Why? Why couldn’t he try and see his brother? 

He heard himself accepting, he saw as the rest of his ‘family’ prepared to leave. But his mind was not there, it was back on an Atlanta rooftop with the man he thought he would never see again. 

Once again the smoke grenades were the perfect cover for the escape mission. The moment they covered enough they took off towards where the buses were, the ‘front doors’ of Woodbury. Daryl was back on point, trying to keep his mind in the game but not being able to completely shut it down. 

He gave the other guys cover, but at the same time he tried to not shoot at people. Any one of them could be his brother after all. They made their way across the street, people shooting at them from all over, they were way outmanned. 

“How many did you see?” Someone asked him as he started taking things off the bag he had been carrying, passing around more guns and magazines around. 

“No matter, we need to get out of here.” He was focused on getting his people out, but he needed to see his brother. If he didn’t get out, well, he truly didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. 

“Any grenades left?” At Rick’s question he pulled out the remaining ones from the bag, giving him a grunt in acknowledgment. “We need to make our way to the buses.” 

The fight continued around them while Daryl pulled even more things out of the bag. It was then when he made his decision: he would get everyone out, but he needed to talk to his brother. To hell with what Rick Grimes said, he just hoped that if something happened, the three people back in the prison would not kill him for his decision. 

“Go ahead,” he passed on more weapons to those around him, “I’ll lay down some cover fire.”

“We got to stay together,” the pang in his chest was back, the thought that the words yelled by Maggie could have easily have been said by a certain other woman was playing games with his head. 

“Too dangerous, I’ll be right behind you.” He had barely given out the last of his weapons when he pulled out a grenade and threw it down the street. “Ready?” He didn’t wait for the answer, he threw the smoke grenade and moved forward with his automatic rifle, crouching down by a bench and started opening fire. 

He felt and heard as the rest of his group made their way towards the buses, but he stayed on point. He continued to shoot, trying not to feel anything as people dropped dead from his bullets. Trying not to think at the possibility that he might have been shooting at his own flesh and blood. 

He heard yelling behind him, from Maggie calling out for Rick. And then from the man himself calling out for him. He couldn’t leave his brother behind this time, no,  he wouldn’t leave his brother behind. “Go!” He yelled back, continuing to shoot as his chosen family escaped over the buses.

.-.-.-

Carol yawned once again as she rested her weight against the banister in front of her, her legs dangling as she kicked them back and forth. Axel had finally shut up a few minutes before, his unending babble and lewd looks he shot her had been getting on her nerves more than they usually would have. And she knew the reason for that. 

The look Murphy had shot her as she and Axel had arrived to take over the watch, had a lot more behind than she felt like deciphering right then. So with a small smile and a push at his back, the Irishman had left the two of them alone. She knew they would eventually be back, she knew those two and she knew they wouldn’t leave her out there with the blonde horny man on her own for long, but she appreciated it anyway. 

She shivered as the humid summer night wind ruffled her open jacket. The weather was something she had always liked about Georgia, and she had severely missed it while they were living up north. The hot days with the cools nights brought memories from her childhood, as did the smell of the ground after a storm took her back to a better time, when her parents were alive and before she had her heart broken by someone who was supposed to love her more than his own life. 

She mentally shook herself as she continued to look onto the chain fences, seeing as a couple of walkers passed them by with nothing around catching their attention to them. Her thoughts were not a good place to spend time, especially not at that moment. She couldn’t believe it was less than 24 hours since she had been almost sure she was going to die inside that tiny dark cell; since the walls had started to come down on her, and her mind started to shut down. 

Now? Now she was back out there, worrying about her family, worrying about Daryl as he went to try and bring back the rest of their small family back. She felt a pang in her chest, as if someone was squeezing her heart at the thought of him being out there with no one covering his back; because she knew him, and she knew he would be taking all the risks needed to get their people back. 

Carol jumped as she heard the door behind them slam closed, turning fast her gun coming up only to find herself pointing it right at Connor’s chest. The younger man grinning at her, as he kept his hands up. “I come in peace.”

Carol chuckled, rolling her eyes as she turned back to keep watch. “Much use, this arsehole is.” She heard Connor mutter behind her, as she looked over her shoulder when he kicked Axel’s boot in passing, rolling his eyes when the blonde man only muttered before continuing to asleep. “You are the one who’s supposed to be getting some sleep.” He said, groaning as he moved to sit beside her, shoulder to shoulder. 

“I had not even noticed he had fallen asleep,” she threw him a small smile, both pretending not to look at each other as they kept their eyes on the lookout. “I was just grateful he was finally quiet.”

Connor shook his head, chuckling. “You have no idea how many times we ended up knocking him out just so he would shut up.”

Carol did not even try to hide her laughter at that, and Connor couldn’t help but feel elated at the fact that he had been able to make her react like that. Slowly, he moved so he could throw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him. “I’m glad to be able to hear your laugh again,” he muttered as he pressed his mouth to the crown of her head, keeping her close to him as she allowed him. 

There were no words Carol could speak that could explain what she felt at his words, so she didn’t. She just sighed and let herself be pulled into his somewhat protective embrace. There was just something about these two men that made her feel in complete ease around them, an ease that she hadn’t found in anyone  else but Daryl, ever. 

“Are you ever going to try and get some sleep?” his words were quiet, a few minutes later as he felt her yawn once again. 

“I’m afraid,” the words left her lips before she realized what she was saying. Connor felt her tense in his arms, biting his tongue to keep himself from interrupting her.

“Hey,” he said softly, using the arm he had around her shoulders to move her so he could look down into her eyes, “I’m not going to say there’s nothing to be afraid of,” he gave her a sad smile, “but I can stay with you, if you think it might help?”

He saw the moment her tiredness won over her fears, as she nodded and scooted over so she could lay down right there on the floor beside him. He chuckled when without having to say anything she laid her head on his thigh. He moved the rifle she had been holding ready to his other side, using his right hand to run it soothingly through her short hair. As he saw her close her eyes, he started to softly recite some of the prayers his mam had used when they had been young and night terrors had haunted them; hoping that they could help her as much as they had done so for them in their youth, she deserved peace at least in her dreams.

.-.-.-

Murphy tried to fall into slumber as soon as he had been relieved from watch duty by Carol. But between his brother stomping his way around their cell, together with a crying baby, two teenagers and an old man in crutches; that had almost been impossible to do. 

He saw as Connor left their cell, hearing as the metal door that separated the cell block and the outside slammed behind him. He just knew he was on his way to try and allow Carol to get some sleep, that woman was infuriatingly stubborn sometimes. 

His eyes closed, he began to feel himself dozing  off. He was not yet that far into sleep that he didn’t hear the sounds around him, but he was just that far off that he didn’t understand what they were talking about. The next thing he knew, Carl was barging into his cell yelling at him that they needed to go. 

“Where are we going, lad?” he asked as he yawned, following the boy as he took the gun he had taken from Daryl’s things from under the bed as well as his knife. 

“We heard some screaming from the tombs,” the boy answered as he gave a solemn nod to Hershel before opening the cell block door, letting Murphy go through before closing it behind them. 

“Carol?” The older man tensed at the simple thought of her being back there, after what had happened the day before. 

“No, she’s still at the tower, she didn’t come back after Connor joined them.” The two continued their way into the entrails of the prison, keeping close watch on the dark corridors as they did so. 

“Up ahead,” Murphy muttered, motioning with his head so Carl knew which way he should throw the light on. The sounds were more clear as they walked further into the tombs; there were people in the tombs,  people that were trying to escape walkers.

The moment the sign ‘boiler room’ stood in front of them, both males stopped dead in their tracks. Murphy could feel how tense Carl was beside him, and he wanted nothing but to be able to comfort the young boy somehow. 

“Let’s go,” Murphy muttered, pushing Carl forward a little bit trying to get him out of his own head. 

Carl grunting when Murphy suddenly pulled him forward at the same time he raised his knife and slammed it into a walker’s eye socket. “No!” There was a shout coming from the room opposite the boiler room, and the two of them started to move when they heard the shuffling from more walkers coming their way. 

They were definitely not expecting to find a huge black man slamming a hammer into the skull of a walker, as the group around him tried to fend off even more. They looked at each other for just a moment, before they opened fire, killing the walkers surrounding the unknown group. 

“Come on!” Carl yelled at them, as Murphy turned to look at where they had been coming from, trying to keep their way out open. “Hurry!” Carl pushed Murphy’s back, and the two of them started trotting their way back to the cell block, guiding the group. 

“The gunshot will just draw more of them here!” Murphy grunted as he slammed his knife into another skull, as he pulled Carl closer to him and away from a walker. 

“Hurry!” Carl yelled, and Murphy could hear the panic in the boy’s voice. He was not looking, but he felt as Carl stopped suddenly and he groaned as he pivoted back. They watched the huge man take the injured woman and throw her over his shoulder; just as the black woman with him took down a walker with a shovel to the head. 

“You have to leave her!” The words coming out of the boy’s mouth concerned Murphy, knowing that they were truly coming more from fear than from not caring about people. 

“No way!” The black man barked, as the small group fell back into step behind Carl and Murphy. Murphy kept on guiding them back into the cell block, keeping Carl within his reach at all times. There was no way he was losing that boy to this. 

The moment they reached the common space, as he slammed into the bars, it felt like homecoming. He tried to regain his breath as he watched the small group enter, nodding at Carl as he closed and locked the doors behind the last one of them.

“No!” Someone was yelling at his right, but he had no other concern at the moment but to get his heart back into a normal rate and keep an eye on his young charge. 

“Is she dead?” Those words did get his attention though, watching as the woman, apparently called Donna, was brought down from the man’s shoulder and onto the floor. He saw as Carl made his way to them, following close as he saw him cock up his gun. 

“I’ll take care of it,” Carl had barely muttered the words, when Murphy was already pushing him away with a hand in his shoulder as he took his homemade silencer with the other, taking the gun away from him. 

“The hell you will,” he muttered as he blocked the scene from the boy with his own body. 

“I can do it Murph!” The boy’s eyes were challenging as he looked up at the blue eyed man, fearless and to some degree emotionless. 

“You don’t have to,” was all Murphy answered, moving the hand he had used to harshly push him away to now cradle the side of his neck. He saw as the boy’s eyes started filling with tears, and he just pulled him into his chest. 

“Who the hell are you?” Murphy turned, with Carl still clutched to his chest to look at whoever had spoken to him. He saw as both the black man and the black woman, were looking at him with a mix of wonder and fear. 

“She doesn’t have much time left, she’s bit,” Murphy moved his right arm from where he was keeping Carl close to him, to sign himself, “You need to do it before she comes back.”

“How did you get in here? Who are you with?” The black women looked at them panicking slightly. 

He felt as Carl started trying to pull back, and he allowed him. “We can help you,” he still kept one arm around his shoulder though. “But first things first.” The boy sniffled as he said the words, his eyes red but his head up and looking at the strangers with courage. 

The black man saw as Murphy moved to pull out his gun, and shook his head. “No,” he took a breath, “we take care of our own.”

Both Carl and Murphy nodded, moving back towards the proper cell block as if to give them privacy. It was a painful moment, and they had no right to intrude it. “Hey,” Murphy said softly to Carl as they reached the cellblock door, “Come here.” He didn’t wait for the boy’s answer, he just pulled him back into his arms, and he felt as the boy’s small body sagged into his. He was clutching him with more strength that he would have expected from someone his size, but as he tried to cover his ears without being overly obvious about it as the people behind them said their goodbyes; he couldn’t help but wonder where the fuck was Rick Grimes? And why the fuck had he  not seen to look after his son?

With a sigh, he pulled away, pushing him to go back into the cell block. Back to Beth, Hershel and Little Judith. “Lock the door,” he said softly to him, as he pulled the door close. Nodding at Carl as the boy pulled out the keys and locked it behind them.

“Hey!” It was the woman again, making her way towards the bars, looking in astonishment as Carl and now Beth looked at them from behind locked doors. “What are you doing? Are you locking us in?”

“Hey kid!” The Black man had forgotten about what he was about to do, moving towards the locked door as well. “Let us out of here.”

Murphy felt his blood boil as he saw the small step back both teens took. They both put a good front, but he knew they were scared. “Hey, shit heads.” All eyes turned on him, as if they hadn’t realized he was there with them still. “Yes, you are locked in here, you are safe, you have water and food.”

The woman looked at him, before noticing the keys in Carl’s hands and moving towards them once again. “Open this door,” her voice had barely concealed anger, and Murphy did not like that at all. 

“Hey, lass,” faster than she could react his arm was gripping the bars right across her face, “get the fuck away from them.”

Her eyes turned to him, and from closer inspection he could see it was not anger, but fear. “Come on, man,” she half said, half whispered to him, “we’re not animals, don’t do this.”

Apparently, Murphy took too long to answer, because as she saw Hershel move out from one of the cells, her hand slammed into the door at the same time she yelled. “Come on! You can’t leave us in here.”

If there was something that Murphy had never had any qualms with, was with hitting women when they deserved it; and someone making his kids jump scared? They fucking deserved it in his books. The next thing she knew, the girl was slammed against the big guys chest; and he was barely able to react quickly enough to catch her before she ended up on the floor. “Never,” Murphy sneered at her, “never threaten my family in front of me.”

Murphy could see the anger in her eyes once she was standing on her own again, but the other man stopped her with a hand on her shoulder as she was about to make her way back to him. “Sasha!” he hissed, looking from the side of her head to Murphy back and forth. “Back away from the door, and let the man go.”

The woman, Sasha, took a step back, turning to look at the older man. “Look around you,” his voice was leveled, as he took the opportunity to look at the room they were at. “It’s the best we’ve had in weeks.”

“His house,” the man turned to look at Murphy, whose’ eyes had not left them. “We got other things to worry about.” He pointed back to where the woman was still lying with the red cloth over her face. 

“We don’t want any trouble,” he stated before he softly guided Sasha back to where their friend lay dead. 

Murphy didn’t realize he was holding his breath until they were on the other side of the room. To be honest, he had only reacted, he was not sure he would have been able to take them on his own if it had come down to a fight. That man was huge!

“You alright?” He asked softly as he turned to look at Beth and Carl inside the cell block. 

“Shouldn’t we help them?” Beth asked as she looked down, unable to meet his eyes. 

“That’s what we’re doing,” was Carl’s response, to which Murphy nodded. 

“Go and try to get some sleep,” he told the two teenagers. “You did good, deputy” Murphy said as he reached through the bars and patted Carl on top of his sheriff's’ hat. The boy just grunted, as he moved away and back into his cell. Murphy would count that as a win, the smile on the boy’s face was undeniable. 

.-.-.-

If asked, Daryl would not be able to say what had bothered him the most at that moment. The fact that they took HIS crossbow away from him; the fact that someone had bound his hands behind his back and was pulling at his bad shoulder (the left one), or the fact that they had his head covered with something that smelled disgusting.

In theory, he knew that there were other things he should be concerned about. But at the moment, as he was manhandled around he was unable to focus on anything other the fact that if he didn’t go back to the prison, Carol would be so pissed off at him.  She would stop talking to him until he somehow without letting others know got back in her good graces.

He grunted as one of the goons pulled him roughly to the side, making him lose his balance and that made him feel even more weak than he had been already. He tried to keep his thoughts on Carol, on anything else but the fact that he was probably been taken to the slaughterhouse. The men guiding him did not say a word, and that was somewhat even worse.

He could feel the now familiar sensation of a panic attack trying to settle in his chest. The bonds, the hood over his head, the unknown people touching him; it was becoming too much. He was barely able to keep it together when he was roughly pulled by one of his arms, the grunt that left his mouth as the hood covering his head was pulled away was unconscious. And then, there was nothing but Merle.

He could hear people reacting around him, but his eyes couldn’t leave the cold expression on his brother’s face. There he was, looking no worse for wear, his older brother. He wanted to call out for him, feeling like he was six years old once again; but the words got stuck in his throat. Their eyes met and he swore he could see that sixteen-year-old boy, the older brother that he had once been looking back at him.

The effect was quickly broken when someone else caught his attention. Andrea, another person left behind by Rick just as his brother was standing there in between all the fuckers of Woodbury. His eyes went back to his brother, as if trying to convince himself he was not making things up.

He was breathing hard, half dressed in front of a crowd and he only had eyes and thoughts for his brother. He didn’t look around until the fucktard with the gauze in the eye walked in between him and Merle.  This must be the Governor Glenn mentioned.  That was when Daryl finally saw the people around them clamoring for their blood.

Both Dixon brothers gravitated towards each other without even thinking about it, after all it had been them against the world for a long time. Merle kept his eyes out, vigilant, while Daryl continued trying to understand what was going on, feeling as tears stung in his eyes every time he saw that his brother was standing beside him.

“You wanted your brother,” the man, the Governor, approached Merle with a mocking smile on his face. Daryl automatically moved towards his side, his own face a mix between shock and sorrow while Merle looked  the other man right in the eye, fearless. “Now you got him.” 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Suicide King

Chapter VIII

Suicide King

 

Murphy tried not to smile the moment he saw the picture in front of him. After helping the small new group handle their ‘little’ situation, he let the man he now knew was called Tyresse and Sasha  rest. After checking upon Hershel and the teenagers, he knew it was his time to go and relieve his brother and Carol from watch duty. 

The picture that met him once he climbed up the watchtower was that of Carol dead asleep with her head on his brother’s lap, while he kept his word and stayed awake for watch. “Time’s up fucker,” Murphy muttered, kicking his brother softly in the leg, grunting when Connor just punched him in the shin without saying anything else.

“I’m not going to wake her,” Connor said as Murphy sat down beside him. It must have been at least four in the morning, the first rays of light were not far by then. 

“Try and sleep then, I’ve got this.” 

There was something going on in his brother’s mind, Connor was sure of that. But as Murphy took out one of his cigarettes and lit it, he knew he needed to give him time. So knowing one of his brothers was at his side, and the other shouldn’t be taking long to come back, he moved so he didn’t disturb Carol’s head on his lap and fell asleep with his brother’s hand over his calf. 

.-.-.

The look the Governor was throwing Daryl and Merle made Daryl breathe even quicker. He threw a look from the side of his eye to his brother, trying not to react when he heard the crowd around them clamor for their deaths once again. 

He could feel the fucker walking around his back, and he tried to control his breathing, especially knowing Merle was right beside him. Panic attacks were one thing that would certainly get him punched by his brother when he was younger, he had learned that early on; and he knew, in the part of his brain that could focus at that moment, that he needed to have a cool head to think. 

Daryl saw as Andrea tried to make her way to the man in charge, at the same time someone walked behind him and started cutting his bonds away.

“He’s my friend!” Daryl’s eyes raised to meet Andrea’s just as the Governor answered her, and the rest of the multitude finally quieted down. 

“It’s not up to me,” the man was enjoying this too much and Daryl just knew there was something inherently wrong with him, “the people have spoken.”

He saw as the man’s eye focused on his brother, as he continued to try and regain his normal breath. “I asked you where your loyalties lie,” the asshole’s hand raised and pointed at his brother, “and you said It was here.  Now it’s time to prove it.”

Daryl’s heart skipped a beat as the Governor continued, “brother against brother.” He turned to look at Merle, trying to catch his eye. There was no way in hell he was fighting his brother, and to the death? Hell no! “Winner goes free,” something deflated in him as Merle only threw him a quick look before looking back to his former boss. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his brother, it was that he knew his brother. He knew he was a survivor, just like him. What he also knew, and at least he hoped he knew, was how much blood meant to him. What other reason than blood could have kept him from killing the bastard that was Buck Dixon for all those years?

“Fight, to the death!”

The people went wild around them, and Daryl couldn’t help but look at them. What was wrong with these people? His eyes kept on jumping from the people, to his brother. He could hear Andrea pleading for them from somewhere, but he had nothing else to focus on but the man standing by his side. 

Merle finally looked at him in the eye, before he turned on his back raising his arms like in victory. “You know me,” he yelled at the crowd around them, and Daryl felt like dying, “I’m going to do, whatever I gotta do,” he was pacing, and with each step he got closer and closer to him. Daryl didn’t know what was going on, should he raise his arms up in defense against his brother? “To prove...” he didn’t have time to react, one moment Merle was giving him his back, the next he was throwing a punch into his stomach making him stumble to the ground while he coughed trying to regain his breath. “That my loyalty...” in that moment, Daryl wasn’t in Woodbury anymore, he was lying on the ground of their old house, getting the shit kicked out by his father thirty years in the past. “Is to this town.”

Merle continued to kick him while he was down, throwing him around the made up ring. It wasn’t until he was slammed into a wall, that Daryl regained knowledge of where he was. He was in Woodbury, it was Merle and not his father who was kicking the shit out of him, even though Merle’s voice sounded so much like their father’s.  And with Merle? Merle he could hit back. 

He saw as his brother prepared to throw another punch at him, and used that opportunity to throw a punch with all his strength connecting with his jaw. Giving him enough time to be able to climb back into his feet. But Merle was trained, Merle knew him, and as he went to grab him by his shirt, he threw him off with his back against the floor before he knew what had happened. 

His hands immediately went to Merle’s neck, trying to choke him into releasing him from the position they were in. “Do you really think this asshole in going to let you go?” He asked as he saw his brother’s face get redder and redder, just as he felt Merle’s weight against his damaged rib cage. 

“Just follow my lead, little brother,” Daryl was glad he was too fucking confused from the beginning, because they would have definitely gotten caught if he had reacted like he wanted. “We’re getting out of this shithole right now.”

Using the momentum, Merle threw himself back while pulling Daryl up with him. Both brothers moved automatically to be back to back as they regarded those around them. There were walkers now, someone had brought in walkers as Merle kicked the crap out of him and they were being shoved towards him by some weird fuckers. 

The feeling of fighting back to back to his brother was one he was familiar with. And just like that, the Dixon brothers started attacking the walkers as the men of Woodbury tried to control them. Daryl measured his punches, knowing that if he didn’t it could mean a bite and that was it. He tried not to think about how Merle was doing as he used his movements, to throw one of the walkers into the angry crowd behind them. 

When the shooting started, both brothers crouched down together in the center of the ‘ring’. The moment Daryl saw the smoke grenade; he couldn’t help but smile a little even if they were still in the middle of the shit storm. They came back for him. 

The lights were gone next, and the people around them, the common people, started to panic. Smoke filled the arena, and he could feel as Merle tried to grab him to keep him close more than once. “Stay close!” Merle yelled at him as he killed a walker that had gotten too close to comfort.

“Merle,” Daryl called for his brother as he finally saw an opening, “Come on!” 

He saw a light shining on from up ahead, and he just knew it was his family. As they started getting out of the smoke filled area, he saw a man pointing his crossbow at a walker. Without even waiting to see what happened, he took the bow from the man, knowing that Merle had his back. “Move!” He yelled over his shoulder as he started trotting away from that place, knowing the danger had not passed. 

The moment he finally saw Rick’s face, he felt like he could breathe again. “Daryl, let’s go!” He saw as Maggie was running up ahead, and without looking back he followed her. After all, he was going to get to go back home. 

One of the advantages of what the Governor had tried to do was that there was no man power out manning the wall, since he had been so focused on trying to keep the Dixon brothers at line. The man was so egocentric that he had not left any sentries anywhere and their path to the proverbial front door was wide open. 

As they ran, Daryl tried to avoid thinking of the pain in his side and how he felt that he couldn’t really breathe. That was something to worry about later, once they were away from the home of that madman. He kept looking towards his brother, as he ran with his crossbow raised high in case they ran into more hostiles. 

Once he saw the busses up front, meaning that they were at their escape point, he couldn’t help but feel a little tension leave him. “They’re all at the arena,” his brother yelled as he moved towards the buses, not giving the rest of them a second look. 

“You’re not going anywhere with us!” Rick yelled at Merle, and Daryl felt like shooting his friend in the ass with his own crossbow. 

Daryl felt as his brother move behind him, hearing as the older man started kicking one of the metal plates Woodbury used in between buses. “Are we really going to do this right now?” The answer was so Merle, Daryl couldn’t help but chuckle softly under his breath, not looking at Rick in case he heard him. 

“Come on man,” Daryl muttered, not really knowing if the words were for Rick or for his brother. The only thing he wanted was to get the hell out of there. He threw a look over his shoulder, noticing the moment the plate gave and his brother shot out of there as if the devil was behind him. “Let’s get out of here.”

Daryl didn’t wait to see if they were following him, he knew that he needed to catch up with Merle, and that he couldn’t let his brother out of his sight again. He had lost him once; he was not losing him again. 

They ran through the early morning, Merle falling back once they were far enough from the town that they were relatively safe. Daryl didn’t speak a word as they followed Rick back to the car, his mind was going a mile a minute thinking of what was about to come. Merle was alive, and he had hurt Glenn and Maggie. 

As he had told Carol before, he was not blind to the fact that his brother was not a good person; even in the dead of night, while sharing with Carol he had accepted that his brother- although not as bad as his father- hadn’t treated him as he deserved. But he was his brother, and if Rick didn’t change his mind, he had no idea of what he was going to do. 

He couldn’t leave him, after everything, he was his flesh and blood. And what else did he have in life but that? He had a best friend he had more than friendly feelings for? He had two people that he barely knew that thought he was family? He had a group of people that he suspected valued him more for what he could do, rather than who he was?

Daryl flinched when, once it was morning, Merle dropped an arm over his shoulders. Merle moved back, raising his hands in mockery as if surrendering. Daryl just grunted and continued to follow Maggie and Rick. 

“Glenn!” Rick called ahead as they got closer to the car a few hours later. They all knew the Korean man was going to be livid, as well as they had a loose end that was Michonne. Daryl started to jog faster as he saw both of them approaching from the road. “We have a problem here, I need you to back away.”

The moment they realized Merle was with them, all hell broke loose. Daryl couldn’t do anything other than worry about his irate Asian friend, as Glenn pulled out a gun and pointed at his brother’s head. “What the hell is he doing here?!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Daryl said as he tried to stay in front of Glenn’s gun, covering Merle. He could hear his brother moving behind him, using him as a human shield and he felt like puking. It was not the first time he was face to face with a loaded gun because of Merle, and he doubted it would be the last. “Put it down,” Daryl tried to push Glenn’s gun down and away from his face, surprised up to a point to the strength the beaten up man still had to fight him off. 

Glenn was mad, he was mad and he was scared. “Look at what he did to us, if it wasn’t because of him we wouldn’t be like this.” Daryl understood Glenn’s anger, he did… but it was his brother. 

“He helped us to get out of there!” His eyes were on his friend, and he knew, or at least he hoped he knew his friend well enough, that Glenn wouldn’t shoot him. “Drop it.”

“Right after he beat the shit out of you,” Rick said from his side, and Daryl just felt like turning and socking him in the jaw. Really? Couldn’t he help him for a little bit?

“Hey, we both took our hits, man.” His brother’s thick accent made Daryl’s skin crawl. His voice was so much like their old man’s, it made Daryl feel like he was a little boy all over again. 

“Jackass,” he turned and sneered at him. Merle needed to shut the hell up and just let him try and make peace, but he knew there was no way his brother was doing that. It was against his very nature. 

“Shut up!” Was the answer he got from behind him, and it was no surprise really. That had been his answer for the last thirty years of their lives. 

“Relax!” He turned, trying to get his brother to shut the hell up when he continued yammering his mouth from behind him and Rick, only to turn back and see Glenn a lot closer than even he was comfortable with. “Get that shit out of my face!”

“Looks like you’ve gotten native, brother.” The use of the term brother was what set him off on Merle. It was nothing like when Connor had called him that just the day before, Merle used it like a mockery, like a dirty word; almost like an insult. Connor had said it like it had a deeper meaning that just sharing blood. 

“Shut the fuck up!” Daryl said as he turned and hit Merle right in the jaw. His older brother never saw it coming, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. A walker could have been heard from yards away at the sudden silence that befell upon them. “I need a fucking smoke,” he muttered as he turned and stalked out towards the road, leaving a knocked out older brother and four  very confused people behind. 

.-.-.-

The first thing Carol realized, was that she was definitely not in her cell. The place where she was sleeping was hard, not bad mattress hard, but concrete hard. The second was that her head was propped in something soft, and the final thing was that there was someone snuggling into her, using her as a mix between pillow and teddy bear as it seemed.

A low chuckle welcomed her as she finally opened her eyes, looking up to the old roof of the prison watchtower. She blinked as a pair of blue eyes appeared suddenly in front of her, blocking her previous view. “Morning.”

Carol blinked once again, as if trying to get rid of the cobwebs behind her eyes. “Morning,” she muttered as she groaned, not making a move to change her position at the moment. “What time is it?” She asked as she looked down to see who was snuggled up to her, realizing the weird pretzel like position was due to how she and Connor had ended up sleeping. She still had her head on his thigh from the night before, but now he was lying on his side, having used her stomach as a pillow of his own.

“It’s still early,” Murphy smiled as he looked at the two of them. Carol had unconsciously started running her hands through Connor’s short hair, while she tried to fully wake up. “I sent Axel inside to start on breakfast, so you still have some minutes left to sleep in.”

She made a noncommittal noise, and he couldn’t help but keep the smile on his face as he looked back towards the road leading to the prison. It had been almost 18 hours since the group led by Daryl and Rick had left the prison, and the fact that they were not back yet didn’t sit well with him.

“He’ll be back,” Carol words made him turn to look down at her, finding her looking at the same spot he had done so moments before. “He always comes back.” Murphy nodded, making a noise of agreement with her. “It’s impressive how the two of you are so different, but then there are this gestures or movements, that are exactly the same.”

“We’ve always been with each other, it was expected.”

“I didn’t mean you and Connor.”

.-.-.-.-

“It won’t work.”

“It’s gotta,” Daryl looked at Rick dead in the eye. He had kept quiet as they left his brother, still knocked out in the woods, walking far away from prying ears. “The Governor is probably on his way to the prison by now, Merle knows how he thinks we could use the muscle.”

“Are you kidding me?” Glenn huffed as he looked at Daryl, as if daring to contradict him. “He’s unstable, look at what he did to us!” Daryl couldn’t handle looking at his friend in the eyes, to see the damage that his brother had done to him as it pained him greatly. But still, it was his brother.

“He’ll apologize, I’ll make him behave himself.” He muttered, as he moved his weight from one leg to the other anxiously.

“You really want him sleeping on the same cellblock as Carol? As Beth?” The mention of her name made his heart leap, but he couldn’t get distracted over this.

“He not a rapist,” there was certainty in his voice. His brother might be crass and a pig, but he would never touch a woman if they didn’t want him to. 

“But his buddy is,” the way Maggie tensed beside them at Glenn’s voice made him want to go back and carve the Governor’s other eye out with one of his arrows. But that would need to be left for another time, there were more important things first.

“They’re no buddies no more, not after last night.” Daryl tried to keep his tone neutral, but he started feeling as desperation bled into his voice. He couldn’t leave his brother, he just couldn’t.

“There’s no way Merle is going to live there without putting everyone at each other’s throats,” Daryl felt his eyes burning as he heard Rick’s words. His hands started shaking, which he tried to control. He knew what his decision would have to be, he knew what had to be done. But there he was again, being forced into doing something he had always hated doing. He was going to have to choose between his family, and the things he wanted more than life.

“So you want to cut Merle loose, and bring the last samurai with you?” In his heart, he knew his words would not change anything. He had always known deep inside. But he had thought, he had hoped that for once someone would have put him first, put what he needed first.

“She’s not coming back,” Daryl felt like laughing as he heard Rick speak first, and then Maggie interrupted him saying she couldn’t be alone. But what about him? What about what he wanted for once?

He looked at Michonne as Rick, Maggie and Glenn continued to talk about her. She was lost, like so many of them were before. But if she was brought back, he had to try to get them to accept his brother, they just had to try. “We don’t know who she is, but Merle,” he saw the three of them look back at him, “Merle’s blood.”

“No,” Glenn took a step closer to Daryl, making the archer who had been looking at Rick look at him, “Merle is your blood. My blood? My family? It’s standing right here, and waiting for us back at the prison.”

Glenn words felt like a knife to his heart. He knew the young man felt deeply for all of them, just like they all felt for each other. To Daryl he had become not just a friend, but a somewhat younger brother. But at the end of the day, Merle was Merle.

“And you’re part of that family. And He’s not” Once again Daryl felt like yelling at them, if he was family why couldn’t they understand? Why couldn’t they just stop and think and try to work things over with  _ his _ family? If he meant that much to them, if he was part of Rick’s family as he was saying, why were they making him choose?

Daryl chuckled humorlessly, shaking his head while muttering  _ you don’t know,  _ under his breath. He knew they didn’t understand, and they would probably never would. If Carol had been there, he just knew she would have vouched for him, he would have at least had someone on his corner. But she wasn’t, and the three in front of him? They would not change their minds. “Fine,” he sneered as he looked behind Rick to see his brother groaning as he finally stood up, leaning against a tree. “We’ll look out after ourselves.” The fuck they would.

“That’s not what I was saying,” Glenn pleaded at him, apparently the only one somewhat understanding the situation.

“No him, no me.” It was as simple as that. No one could make it out there on their own, and as much of a dickhead Merle was, he was still his brother.

“Daryl, you don’t have to do that.”

“It’s always been Merle and I before this.” Couldn’t they see? That his heart was breaking? Why couldn’t they just understand.

“But it’s not like that anymore,” Glenn and Maggie continued to be the ones trying to get him to stay. Rick just stood looking at him, silent. “You have Murphy and Connor, now.”

“They’re not spare parts you can just interchange,” the comment about the twins had made him finally raise his voice. “It’s not one brother instead of the other, and who the fuck cares what those two mother fuckers are to me? No Merle, no me.”

Glenn seemed to be taken back at his outburst, “well, what do you want us to tell Carol?”

“She’ll understand.” To be honest, he hoped she would. He didn’t know what his feelings were for the gray haired woman, but out of everyone back at the prison- and that included the twins- she was the one person his heart ached for.

His words were met by silence. Daryl dared to look at Rick in the eyes, waiting to see if he changed his mind. After a few seconds, he just knew he had sealed his fate. “Say goodbye to your pops for me,” he said to Maggie as he pushed his way between the young couple and started making his way towards the small beat up car.

He could hear both Glenn and Maggie continue to call out for him as he made his way to the trunk of the car. Their steps disappeared after a couple of feet; only Rick’s continued. “Hey,” the former deputy knew better than to try and stop him physically, “there’s got to be another way.”

“Just say the words, but don’t you dare ask me to leave him again.” His words were laced with anguish and the former policeman was left speechless. He took a deep breath as he continued to make his way to the car, while trying to make sense of what he had just done.

“We started something last night,” Rick had continued to follow him, his voice barely above a whisper. He stopped behind him as he opened the trunk, taking out his backpack along with his quiver and a couple of water bottles.

“No him, no me.” There was more anger in his words now than when he had spoken them to Glenn and Maggie. He just knew that if Rick said so, they would have had to take him back. But the truth was, Rick didn’t want to. Just like Rick had been the one to leave him in that roof in Atlanta in the first place.

“Take care of yourself, of little asskicker,” Daryl shouldered his bag as he started moving towards the woods where Merle was waiting for him. “Of Carl,” he stopped, looking back at Rick, giving him one last chance to change his mind, “that’s one tough kid.” And with those parting words, Daryl left behind the only family in the real sense of the world he had ever had. He felt his skin crawl as Merle threw an arm over his shoulders, looking back mockingly to the people he was leaving behind as if he had won something. Daryl just continued to walk away silently.

.-.-.

Carol had refused to go in for breakfast, instead she had materialized three protein bars from somewhere within the tower with a mysterious smile. Murphy had updated them about the new people, and the three of them had stayed up there waiting for any signs of the rest of their group until Carl had walked into the yard.

They saw as the boy made his way slowly towards where the three graves were dug out two days before stood. With a soft touch in their shoulders, Carol had left them to catch up with the motherless boy.

The brothers tried not to pry, but the scene at the other side of the yard was heartbreaking. A motherless child and a childless mother trying to console each other in their mourning. “That will be for him,” Murphy muttered to his brother as he saw Carl hug Carol, burrowing his head in her chest as the two of them cried in front of the graves. “He offered them to be the one to put that woman down, we need to look after him.”

Connor bit his lip, as he moved his sight from the two small figures to the empty road. “He needs his father.”

“His father is an asshole.”

“Not saying he isn’t, but it’s still his father.”

“Whatever.”

“Are you going to cry now? Does icky little Malachy want to be the lad’s daddy?”

“Shut up, asshole.” Murphy answered Connor’s teasing with a punch to his side, and sooner than either expected they were exchanging blows on the concrete floor trying not to laugh too much at each other.

“What on earth are you two doing?!” Carol’s voice interrupted their little fighting, as both her and Carl looked at them from the yard, laughing as Connor tried to pin Murphy down.

“Nothing love,” Connor was the one who answered, a smile on his face as Murphy was otherwise busy trying to pry his arms from his neck.

“Just don’t fall down from there, please.” Even as far up as they were, as her and Carl continued their way towards the main gate, the men could hear there was definitely humor behind her words.

They continued roughhousing for a few minutes, stopping when both of them were out of breath. Watching as Carol and Carl waited for the search party ready to open the door at the first signal of them coming home.

“They should have been back by now,” neither brother wanted to admit it, but it was the truth. It was close to 24hrs since they left. With a look towards the heavens, the brothers started to pray for their brother to come back to them safe.

Their prayers were interrupted by the sound of the cellblock metal door slamming shut behind someone, followed by unknown voices squabbling in the inner yard. They weren’t that close, but the sound of voices travelled incredibly well when there was nothing else.

“Golden opportunity,” Connor had motioned to Murphy to wait where he was as he moved around the watchtower so he was overseeing the inner yard. Watching as the four newcomers, with the body of their deceased in between, talked with each other. “Just a little kid and a woman,” the man, whose back was to him, pointed towards where Carol and Carl were chatting at the gates.

“We can get hold of those weapons,” the younger man said, and Connor raised his rifle. The black man, who Murphy had said his name was Tyresse, said something too low for Connor to hear, but he clearly looked surprised at the other two’s words.

“We do it quick, they never know what hit them.” He was in Connor’s line of sight now, the rifle in his hands wasn’t the most modern but it was one he knew how to use well. It was a doable shot.

“We’re here to bury Donna.”

“They are good people.”

“Look at this place,” the bearded man continued, as the two siblings stood there in disbelief. “It would be easy.” He had barely finished his words, when a shot rang out. Tyresse and Sasha dropped down to the floor as a reflex, as the man who was talking dropped moaning in pain.

“Not that easy, motherfucker.” Connor yelled from the top of the tower, waving at Axel and Beth when the two of them appeared through the door not a moment later.

“Shit.” Tyresse said as he moved to see where his friend had been hit, breathing easy once again when he noticed he had barely been scratched. Their eyes turned to the tower, seeing for the first time that they hadn’t been as alone as they thought so.

“Morning,” Connor said, his Irish accent clear as day. “Nice day to bite the hand that fed you, isn’t it?”

“Are you fucking insane?!” The youngest man cried up to them, yelping when Connor shot at ground by his feet.

“Language, there’s a lady in your presence.” Murphy yelled as he pointed at where Beth and Axel were making their way towards them with a shovel. Beth smiled when Connor waved at her, laughing when the same hand turned into giving Axel the finger as the mustached man stared up at him.

“It’s just a flesh wound,” Connor called back, laughing as he dismissed the assholes as Beth and Axel went to talk to them; moving to follow Murphy who had started to go down the stairs and out of the tower.

“Reckon we scared them?”

“We? I did all the bloody shooting!” The brother’s laughter could be heard as they exited the tower, smiling even more as they saw the shot man tense as they made their way past them back towards their cell block.

“Carol said she’s staying with the lad, and that we need to get some rest.”

“And she doesn’t? I’m telling on her to Daryl as soon as he’s back.”

“And that, my dear brother,” Murphy said as he threw an arm around Connor’s shoulders. Winking at Hershel as they passed where he was sitting with Judith in his arms as they made their way to the part of the prison they had set up for washing, “is why I’m going to be her favorite forever, I don’t tattletale.”

.-.-.-

The first two hours were spent in complete silence as they moved quietly through the woods. The fact that he had had that much peace and quiet was both a blessing and a curse for Daryl as he continued to ignore his brother’s presence behind him.

“Are you going to continue being a pussy, baby brother?” It was close to the three-hour mark when Merle finally opened his mouth to antagonize him; he immediately wanted to sock him in the jaw once again and knock him unconscious to shut him up.

“Shut up,” Daryl muttered from between his clenched teeth as he pushed away more foliage while he continued forward.

“Are you really that much of a woman, that you’re about to cry because you had to leave those assholes behind?” Daryl stayed silent as he shouldered his crossbow and continued on; trying as much as he could to block Merle’s presence from his mind.

He was sure Merle hadn’t noticed, but he was slowly and surely changing their path towards where he knew the prison was. He needed to get back there, there was trouble brewing and he, for once, was not willing to roll over and play dead at some motherfucker’s orders. Them being from Merle or from Rick.

“What was there for you anyway?” Merle hadn’t gotten the memo, and as usual, had continued to run his mouth. “The same assholes that left me there, I can’t believe you’re still with them.”

“You left me alone,” Daryl’s answer was under his breath, where he knew Merle would never hear it. This was the same thing Merle had always done, blame others on his own problems; and leave him behind without thinking twice about him.

“Boy!” Daryl was sure his mouth would hurt, not that it didn’t, from how much he was clenching his jaw as he heard Merle’s condescending tone call out to him. “We’re stopping here; I need my beauty sleep.”

He didn’t wait for Merle to get to his side when he had already dropped his backpack, and after a quick check, had sat down resting his back against a tree. Still without actually saying anything to his brother, he opened his bag pushing his shit around to try and either find something to eat and/or to keep his brother from trying to make him talk. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t try and knock out his brother yet again if he did.

Daryl heard as Merle sat down opposite him and he ignored him continuing to pretend look for something in his bag. His brother must have been more tired that he had thought so, because in the most Merle-ish fashion, he was snoring loudly less than a minute after sitting down.

His chest finally felt like he could breathe again, as he dared to raise his head from his bag to see if his brother was actually asleep. As he saw that he was, some of the tension coiled inside left him. It was then that he noticed a crinkling sound coming out from one of the pouches from outside his bag. Daryl frowned as he slowly opened it, not remembering having actually put anything in it before. The chuckle that escaped his lips was less humorous and more pain filled as he pulled one of the four leftover cookies that he knew were Carol’s favorites, and that he was sure he had given the pack to Murphy for her to eat; and ate it. He was going back to them, to her, of that he was sure.

.-.-.-

Smecker used to make fun of them once, calling them ‘Angels’. That had been before the public had given them the alias of ‘saints’; but it hadn’t been true. In a way, yes, they were good men; they helped the people around them, like any truly good catholic would do. But they were no Angels.

So the annoyed look Carol gave them from where she was standing guard with Carl, as they saw the two of them walking down the yard less than an hour after she had basically sent them off to bed, only made them grin at her.

Whatever it was that she was about to say to them was cut off as the sound of a car was heard, and they jogged down the path until they were standing by the inner gate waiting until Carl opened the gate for the small car to pass to be able to join them. They quickly made their way towards the back of the car; and that was when they saw Daryl wasn’t in the passenger seat.

Murphy’s eyes met Carol’s as the car drove away, the look of loss and pain in her eyes was probably reflected in theirs. “Where’s Daryl?” it was her who called Rick’s attention, from where he was kneeling in front of Carl, having just finished greeting his son.

As if it was second nature, the twins were already flanking a distraught looking Carol by the time Rick made his way over to her. Connor’s hand was on her shoulder, while Murphy although not touching her, was standing as close as he could on her other side.

“He’s fine,” if Rick was taken back by the presence of the two men, he had a good poker face. “He’s alive.”

“But where is he?” Connor could feel Carol trembling under his hand, and he knew Murphy was close to losing his head.

“We ran into his brother,” Rick moved his eyes from Carol, to look at the twins quickly, before going back to the woman in the middle of them. “They went off.”

Silence greeted those words, not even the usual hot headed Murphy had been expecting something like that. “They left?” Carol’s voice was quiet, unwavering but yet broken.

Connor glared as he saw Rick shift his eyes from Carol’s pain filled ones. There was something he wasn’t telling, and that was just not going to fly with him. He didn’t know Daryl, they had barely started to scratch the surface of who and what they were to each other. But he knew good people, and Daryl was a good one; and there, between him and his brother, was one of the people that man loved the most in the world. There was something missing in that picture.

Rick nodded, swallowing as he averted his eyes from the woman in front of them. “Daryl left?”

“What are you not saying?” Connor let his hand drop from Carol’s shoulder as he felt Murphy pull her closer to him with an arm around her back.

“What?” Rick answered shaking his head as he finally looked up and into Connor’s eyes; his voice showing his disbelief at his mistrust.

“Daryl wouldn’t leave just because his brother is back.” Being honest, he was not sure of that actually being the case; but by Carol’s shocked response to the facts, he was willing to bet on there being more to the story that they were being told.

“What would you know?” Rick huffed in response, glaring at the older man as he started to turn on his heel to go back into the prison. Carl gave the three of them a lost look at his father put a hand over his shoulders and started walking him back to the cell block, and away from them.

“Daryl’s gone,” Carol whispered softly as Connor finally turned to look at her once he stopped glaring at Rick’s back. “He’s not coming back.” Murphy shook his head at him as he brought Carol closer to his chest, letting her grab the sides of his shirt in her fists as if she could physically keep him, and in turn Daryl, with them.

“Hey,” Connor said softly as he moved to their side, trying to catch her eyes. “If there’s something I’ve learnt about that man,” he tried to give her a smile, which didn’t seem to do anything to calm the storm of feelings she seemed to have inside. “Is that he never does anything without a reason, I’m sure he had a pretty good one for this.”

“He’s still gone.”

“I know, love.” This time it was Murphy who muttered, moving to burrow his face in her gray hair as he dropped a kiss absent mindedly on the top of her head.

“I think there’s more to it than he let on,” Connor said as he started ushering the two of them back towards the prison. The walk was slow and silent as they moved towards their destination. Connor finally dropped the subject at the look Murphy gave him when they both heard Carol sniff for the tenth time. She was trying as hard as she could to keep the tears at bay, and they would definitely respect that.

As they stepped into the inner yard her first tears started to fall. Murphy moved to hug her back into him she resisted. “Love,” Murphy muttered as he tried to catch her eyes, but it seemed to have the opposite effect of what he was trying to do.

As her eyes connected with Murphy, her walls seemed to break down and tears started to flow down her cheeks. She slapped a hand over her mouth as if to try and silence her sobs, as she pushed Murphy further away, bending in half when her sobs brought her almost to her knees.

“Carol,” Murphy tried once again, stopping in his tracks as she put out a hand to keep him away as another sob racked her small frame, while she kept her eyes tightly shut. The scared look Murphy shot his brother wasn’t exactly new, but it did make his brother react.

“Carol,” both brothers breathed out as Carol allowed Connor to touch her and help her move so she could sit down with her back against the fence; keeping her from falling down. “You need to breathe, love.” Her tears were coming fast, and her breathing was labored.

“I can’t,” she said between sobs, as she moved to grab one of Connor’s hands in hers, while the other she put over her chest; as if to keep her heart from jumping out.

“You can,” Murphy’s voice seemed to start crying even more, and his brother glared at him over his shoulder from where he was now kneeling in front of the crying woman.

“Hey,” Connor blocked Carol’s view of Murphy completely, putting himself right in front of her until he was basically kneeling in between her legs. “Look at me,” her eyes slowly but surely made their way to his and he didn’t back down from the dare he saw behind them.

“He’s going to come back,” she had started to shut her eyes once again and shake his head, but he moved his hands until there where at each side of her face, not letting her. “Yes, he is,” he could feel Murphy behind him, always well attuned to where his better half was. “And we’ll give you first dibs on his ass, even if that leaves us with almost nothing to chew on.”

Those words made her chuckle, even if she was still in terrible pain. He smiled softly at her, before pulling her into his arms. Allowing her to hide in him for a moment. Without saying anything, she extended one of her hands up towards Murphy, who moved until he was standing with his legs right against Connor’s back; and took it. Connor had an idea of why she was hiding, why she couldn’t let Murphy- who of the two of them was definitely the one more affectionate to her- hold her. But he knew, in his gut; that this wasn’t the last of Daryl Dixon they would get to see.

-.-.-.-.

Daryl looked over his shoulder at his dick of a brother as he continued to follow him, talking his ear off about all the shit he had been up to while at Woodbury. Every other sentence was shade thrown to his new family, and he couldn’t help but sigh and shake his head at every single one of them.

“I know you’re not interested in pussy, you pussy;” this was definitely something Daryl had heard more than once in his life. “But damn, that samurai seemed like would have been an animal in the sack; wouldn’t have minded bumping uglies with her.”

“She would have ended up going all black widow on your ass.” Daryl muttered as he kicked a branch away, looking more like a moody teenager than a mid-aged man, “if we were only so lucky.”

“Are you ever going to stop being such a moody bastard?” Daryl grinded his teeth as his brother finally asked him a direct question. The few hours since they had departed his friends had been spent more or less like this, Daryl avoiding Merle as he walked them back to the prison, trying not to be too obvious at what he was doing.

The word he used this time made him stop.  _ Bastard _ . It was not the first time Merle called him that, but it was the first time he actually stopped and thought about the meaning behind it. “Is that what I am?” He said as he turned to look at Merle. His older brother looked worse for wear, tired, with his shirt muddy and marked with sweat steins.

“A moody bastard? Hell yes!”

“A bastard,” the word barely passed between Daryl’s lips from how tight he grinded his teeth.

“What are you talking about, little brother?” Daryl knew Merle, and he knew him well enough to know when he was lying. And his brother was lying. Merle glared at him as he came upon him and threw an arm around his shoulders, jostling him and dragging him away from the route he was planning on taking them on. Merle knew something, and he was sure he was going to find out what exactly that was.

.-.-.-

Murphy quickly found a reason to hate Daryl Dixon a little. It wasn’t because he left them behind, nor for making Carol cry (although that was almost a reason to). No, it was over the fact that since the fucker and him shared the same face, his friend couldn’t look at him without wanting to start crying all over again.

Connor had thrown an arm around his shoulders as they both watched Carol walk slowly, feeling like her world had shook on its axis, towards the cell block. She had asked them to give her some space, she had not even looked at Murphy as she had done so.

“He’ll be back, soon,” Murphy nodded, sighing and dropping his head a little as his brother moved them to sit in the empty inner yard. “She’s just hurt, you know it’s not you.”

“Still makes me feel like shit though.” He sighed and looked up to the darkening sky. It was getting later, and night would fall upon them soon. “I hate all this.”

Connor just agreed with him, letting silence linger between the two brothers. Their lives had gone crazy in just a couple of days, and moments like these seemed somehow rare.  

“Did you ever…” Connor started saying, stopping midway as he tried to properly structure his thoughts. 

“Got any idea of there being another one of us?” Murphy finished for him.

“Yeah,” they had practically been one since birth, they pretty much knew the way the other one thought by then. 

“We always knew we weren’t Mum’s.”

Connor nodded at Murphy’s words. That was true. They were smart lads, and things just didn’t make any sense sometimes in the MacManus family tree. Their mother, bless her soul, had done her best, Catholic upbringing possibly was what made her hide the fact that while they were Noah’s boys they weren’t hers. They had started to suspect when they were around twelve and all because of one simple school test. Their blood type was AB+, while their mother was O. 

“Do you think dad knew about him?” Murphy had started to do the thing with his hand where he scratched the side of his neck and Connor slapped his hand away. There was no way they would ever have an answer for that, their father dead and buried years ago by then.

“Declan,” Connor turned to look at Murphy as his brother muttered a name. 

“What?”

“Do you remember,” Murphy took a deep breath, biting his lip as he looked up as if trying to keep the tears that were filling his eyes from falling. “When we were at that greenhouse, Da started to say nonsense.”

Connor swallowed the bitter taste he had in the back of his throat. That was definitely a moment that would forever be engrained into his mind. 

“He kept calling for us, softly,” Murphy sniffed as he looked down at his hands, tracing the tattoo over his pointer softly. “I didn’t think much about it, because he kept calling for us. But he called out for Declan too.”

“But his name is Daryl.” 

“Just like your name is Connor, but Da called you Cronan.”

“Shut up, Malachy.” The middle names had always been a sore spot. The need for middle names came from their family’s strong catholicism and the need to have a ‘saints’ name. That was how they ended up with Cronan and Malachy; and maybe with a Declan too. 

.-.-.-.-

Night fell, and Daryl just wanted to go home. He had forgotten how tiring Merle was. Just how his brother was able to make him feel caged, even if they were out in the middle of the woods. 

“You do understand boy, that your officer friendly is never going to let me into that prison?” Merle asked as he decided they were camping for the night, dropping himself by a tree as he watched Daryl drop the backpack that he had carried all day. Daryl ignored him, as he had done most of the day as he tried to find things to start a small fire so they could cook the squirrels he had caught as they made their way through the wilderness. 

“You will have to talk to me eventually, boy.”

“Not today at least.”

“Why are you so eager, anyway,” Daryl continued with his task, scoffing as his brother threw a stone closer to him so he could use it to light the fire. “Did you finally find some pussy you can’t get enough of?”

“I had forgotten how fucking annoying you are,” Merle laughed at Daryl’s words. He knew what he was doing, he knew he was making his brother mad but he needed it. He needed Daryl to say more than two words to him, even if they were in anger. 

“Because if you did, and you promise to share, I’ll get us there first light tomorrow.”

“Shut the fuck up!” What Merle definitely didn’t expect was the stone that slammed into his forehead. 

“Baby brother finally got some pussy!” Merle laughed as he rubbed the spot where the stone had hit him, still cackling while he saw the tips of Daryl’s ears redden as he tried to ignore the older man. There was something different with his brother, and he was at a loss as to what it was exactly. But he sure seemed in a rush to get back to the prison, and if what he had seen that morning was any indication, it wasn’t over the chinaman, the girl or Rick asshole Grimes.

-.-.-.-

Carol couldn’t look at Murphy. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, or that she was mad at the man that shared a face with him; because as she had told Beth she understood the reason why he had done it once she had more time to process it. But the pain that tore her heart in two every time she looked at Murphy? There wasn’t anything she could do to convince her heart that it would be alright. 

She felt terrible over it, the last thing she wanted was to alienate one of the few people she was truly close to. But she just needed time. Everything was too recent, she just needed time. And Connor’s sad eyes told her they understood.  

Rick paced in front of them as he finally took the plunge and approached their newest arrivals. Carol knew him, one of the few people together with Glenn that had practically known him since the beginning. She tried to avoid thinking about the other person that had been with them since Atlanta, but in the end all of her thoughts returned to him. 

Rick approached the new group like he seemed to be approaching everything since Lori died: not completely there. He looked shifty, and slightly frightening, especially when he turned and raised his voice at Carl for having brought them in. 

“Hold there mate,” Murphy said, raising his hands as the Georgian man took a step challengingly at him and stood in front of Carl, “it was my idea, I was there with him at all times.” That seemed to calm Rick slightly, although not completely. 

Murphy and Connor shared a look, as one man moved the young boy further behind him; the other moved closer to Carol as if to be ready in case anything happened. 

Hershel took Rick to the side, as he pleaded for their ‘leader’ to rethink their situation, pleading with him to allow the three men and the woman stay with them. 

“We’ve been through this, with Tomas and Andrew, you know what happened!” Rick’s voice resonated through the cell block. Axel tried to make himself smaller as he plastered himself against the wall, making Connor roll his eyes as he looked at him over his shoulder. 

“But we got Axel, Oscar, Connor and Murphy; they aren’t like them.”

“And look where that left us!”

Carol’s hand on his forearm was the only thing keeping Connor from speaking out. She wasn’t looking at him, her eyes were on the danger: her eyes were on Rick as he continued to argue against Hershel. 

“You need to start giving people a chance,” Connor heard Carol take a deep breath as it seemed like the argument was coming to an end, Rick looking like he had lost and was going to give into Hershel’s pleas. 

Rick started to make his way towards Tyresse and Sasha, when suddenly he looked up at the last minute. “No,” he muttered. Everyone around him frowned, looking on as the former officer started to look towards the catwalk around the cell block. “No, no, no.”

“What the fuck,” Connor muttered, moving in front of Carol just as Murphy did the same to Carl; at the same time, Rick pulled out his gun and started pointing around. 

“Why are you here?” Rick yelled at nothing, turning around in circles. “What do you want from me?”

“Dad,” Carl tried to push Murphy away and approach his father, but the Irishman didn’t allow him. “What’s wrong?”

“Out!” Rick continued to move erratically, pointing his gun at the new group briefly only to point it back at the catwalk and start all over as he continued to mutter to himself.

“Move, move!” Glenn yelled at the four newcomers, pushing them towards the door as Maggie tried to calm Rick down enough to get him to give her the gun. 

“What do you want from me?”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the day I was dreading finally came to pass. This is the last chapter I had finished, you guys officially caught up with me. If any of you follow me on Tumblr, you'll know I've been complaining of my job taking all my inspiration from me... I'm gonna try my best, my friends, to have a new chapter for next week... I promise, I'm almost 5k into chapter 10, so I'm gonna go and sit and write. But for now, enjoy this!

Chapter IX

Home 

“They can stay in D,” Carol said softly to Glenn as they tried to make sense of what to so after Rick’s outburst. Hershel had stayed inside with Rick, while slowly they had ushered everyone outside away from the danger. 

“Something happened with Rick,” Maggie added as they looked over where their newest arrivals were discussing something on their own. “I think he was going to let them stay, but something just snapped.”

“We have to keep our eyes on him,” Everyone’s eyes went to Connor as he said the words everyone was thinking. “As well on them, especially the two white ones, they might try to pull something; but the Governor seems more dangerous, and we do need the manpower.”

Glenn sighed, moving his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. As the second oldest member of the group in terms of time being part of it, he had somewhat fallen into the role of leader; although he was still not sure of what would that entail. “Alright,” he sighed as he dropped his hand from his face and nodded, “we’ll make them stay in D, just asking them to give us a little time to calm things down with Rick.”

Everyone nodded their consent, and with a groan Glenn made his way to the four people waiting by the inner gate. 

“I’m sorry about what happened.” Glenn started, looking from one face to the other. Tyresse and Sasha looked deadly tired, while the two other people seemed jumpy. “We have another cell block you can all stay, if you still want to.”

“What about Rick?” Tyresse was the one who stepped up and asked what seemed to be on everyone’s minds.

“We’re working on it.” At the looks they gave him he just raised his hands as his voice went a little higher. “In the last three days we had two of our own killed because someone that we had initially tried to help, without counting Carol who we also thought, was dead.” He pointed back at Carol, whose only response to his words was to hug herself tighter. “Me and my girlfriend were kidnapped, I was tortured and we lost yet another one of ours during the rescue mission. And afterwards, another member of our family left us because I might not have mentioned this, his brother showed up and was the one that kidnapped us and tortured us!” 

“So please, we’re working on it, we’re good people, just stay. If not,” Glenn was sure he looked as tired as he felt, and he couldn’t even try to do anything to hide it. “Just stay in the watchtower and we’ll give you something for the road tomorrow, just stay there and keep watch?”

Tyresse looked over first at his sister, then at the two remaining members of his group. He wasn’t sure about what Allen and Ben thought, but other than Rick’s outburst this group seemed to be made of decent people. And they needed decent people. “We’ll stay, for now.” He added quickly as he saw Glenn’s face. 

“Good, good,” the young man seemed to be deflating with each moment that passed. “The tower’s door is there, just yell if anyone comes by someone will hear.”

“Shouldn’t we get some rifles or something?” It was Allen who had spoken out loud, looking pleadingly at the young man. 

“You think us bonkers? You the most of all, fucker, are not getting one of our guns… you see something? You yell.” Murphy smirked when Allen’s face turned pale white at his words. He needed them to know they were not forgetting what had happened, at least not any time soon. 

.-.-.-.-

As he expected, Daryl got first watch. As if he wasn’t just as tired as Merle was, but of course his brother never thought of anyone else except himself. He had just announced to his  _ baby brother _ that he should wake him when it was his time to stand watch, flopped on the ground on his side and started snoring. He really hated Merle sometimes. 

He hadn’t touched the subject with Merle once again, both men eating their dinner in silence; or as much silence as being around Merle was. The night was quiet, only the sounds of the forest around him. Daryl took a deep breath as he looked up to the sky through the leaves of the trees that surrounded them.

It wasn’t like his brother was completely wrong, per se. There was a woman in his mind as he tried to make his way back the prison; but she wasn’t the only reason for his return. What Connor had said the day before, how he felt like he just ‘fitted’ with them had hit closer to home that he had allowed them to see. The way they had called him ‘brother’ was so different from the way Merle called him; that made him want to know more about what is going on with them. 

Daryl had been an outsider all his life. Even with Will and Merle, he had never felt like he belonged. While Merle and Will looked alike, Daryl always thought he looked more like his mother. While Merle had the curly light brown hair that was classically ‘Dixon’; his hair was dark and straight. Those were just some of the few things he had noticed over the years, and some of the things that Will Dixon had used more than once as an excuse to beat the shit out of him. 

His mother had tried to protect him when he was young, those were a few of the things he could actually remember of her. She had been the only person to call him by his middle name, since according to Will it sounded like a pussy’s name. But it was just their thing, she would pray with him before bed, called him her sweet boy and kissed his forehead. Her kiss the night before she died was the last kiss he had ever gotten, until Carol’s at the farm. 

Daryl chuckled as a small smile appeared on his face as he took another deep breath. He was going home in the morning, weather Merle wanted it or not. 

-.-.-.-

“If you sigh one more time, I swear to God, I’m going to smother you in your sleep.” 

“You shouldn’t use the name of the Lord in vain, lass.”

“Shut up, Connor.”

Murphy’s snickering laugh brought a small smile to Carol’s face. After coming back inside from trying to convince Tyresse and the others to give them a chance, everyone had spread out to their own little cells. Beth had taken little Judith to hers, as it seemed she had been doing for the past couple of days;  Carol had found herself without knowing what to do. 

Her cell, the one that she had stayed in with Lori before three days ago seemed so empty without her friend; that just by looking inside she felt the tears start to sting in her eyes. She just couldn’t do it, she couldn’t step back in there and try to pass it on as if nothing had happened. So she hadn’t. With a heavy heart she had looked upstairs, towards the now empty spot where Daryl’s things had been, and she knew where she was going. 

Her steps echoed in the halls as she walked up the metal stairs, smiling as she heard two more couple of steps, quieter than hers following her. They had spent the night together last night; they had kept the nightmares away… she wasn’t about to throw them out if they wanted to stay around her. 

That’s how it had found her sharing the cell where she had left all of Daryl’s things with the two MacManus brothers. They had been chivalrous enough to let her take the bottom cot, while apparently the two grown men were going to sleep in the top one. 

But sleep just wouldn’t come. She was tired, dead tired, but everything that had happened during the day just seemed to be repeating in an endless cycle in her head. Her anxiety over waiting for Daryl to come back, the devastation at him not being in the car, her meltdown in Connor’s arms, and Rick’s own meltdown just kept on repeating one after the other as soon as she closed her eyes. With a grunt, she changed positions once again, and that seemed to be enough for one of the two men sleeping in the bed over hers. 

She heard as the old thin mattress creaked as one of them moved, hearing too as his feet hit the ground. The cell was dark enough that she couldn’t really tell which of them it was until his voice told her to move over. With a shiver she moved to let Murphy climb into her own small crappy mattress. They were both lying on their sides, faces close together, their breaths mingling. 

“Can I touch you?” He whispered, as she saw him move his hand so it hovered over her cheek, waiting for her permission. 

Carol felt like she couldn’t speak, so she just nodded her consent. Slowly his hand started caressing her cheek, moving so he could touch her hair at the side of her face, so soft she felt like the tears she had been trying to keep at bay were about to start falling at any minute. 

“Sleep,” he muttered as he moved closer. Carol could feel where their legs were now touching each other, moving one of hers so she could throw it over his to secure him close. Slowly, as if waiting for him to tell her no, she moved her left arm to put it around his waist, pulling him closer still. 

“I’m not him,” she was sure Murphy could feel how fast her heart was pounding in her chest for how close they were to each other. 

“I know,” there was sadness in her voice, as she moved her face to place a soft innocent kiss over his lips, before closing her eyes and burrowing her face under his chin. 

“Would you two stop talking so I can get some sleep?” Connor’s tired voice made Carol giggle softly as she sighed into Murphy’s chest. And Carol finally got at least six hours of sleep that night. 

.-.-.-.-

Daryl woke up by Merle dropping their only backpack over his head. With a grunt the younger Dixon was fast on his feet, as he tried to stop squinting at the bright morning sun that hit him directly into his face. 

“There’s some breakfast,” Merle told him as he moved around him not even turning his back to him while he started to undo his pants to take a piss. Daryl yelped as his brother started peeing right next to his shoes. He should have been waiting for shit like that, it wasn’t like Merle hadn’t behaved just like that every single camping trip they had gone on together since they were kids. 

The only way they were able to know how much time had passed was because of the sun moved over their heads. It wasn’t probably any later than 9 am when first Daryl’s and then Merle’s stomach started to rumble with hunger. The squirrel they had shared the night before was nothing to the amount of walking they had done between the day before and today; both men had gotten used to at least having food in their bellies, for Merle it was the opulence that his position at the Governor’s side gave him, for Daryl it was Carol’s care that saved food for him when he wasn’t around. 

Daryl rested his back against a tree when Merle stopped once again to take a piss. He sighed softly as he pulled his crossbow up, pointing at a tree only to drop it down when nothing moved around him. 

“Patience little brother,” Merle had a certain way of talking to him that made him feel like a snotty twelve-year-old once again. And Daryl hated it. 

“Maybe we could go back to some of them houses,” he looked over his shoulder at his brother’s back, “see if there’s anything we can get from there.”

“Is that what your new friends taught you? To loot?” Merle’s voice was mocking him, and Daryl looked away. Merle was the last person on earth who should be judging them, they might take what others left behind… but they were not killing people for it. 

“Maybe we can find a stream, get some fish.” Daryl muttered as he threw his crossbow over his shoulder and continued on his way; not waiting to see what Merle’s answer was. 

“I know what you’re trying to do,” Daryl stopped when he heard Merle’s words. His shoulders dropped, as he closed his eyes using the fact that Merle was still at his back to allow his feelings to show before he had to shut them down once again. “I know you’re trying to get us back to that prison.”

“We have shelter there,” He looked over his shoulder as Merle crouched to look at a trail, “food. A pot to piss might not be a bad idea.” 

“For you, maybe.” Merle had no idea what he was saying. It was more than that, it was always more than that. “Ain’t gonna be no party for me.”

Daryl started fiddling his with crossbow, bringing it up to look at the sight as he felt his brother’s eyes on his back. “They’ll get used to you.” Daryl knew, he just knew that if he could get them there, they would accept them. Merle was a jackass, but he knew he would have Carol, and probably both Murphy and Connor on his side… and that could make all the difference. 

“They’re all dead anyway,” the uncaring way Merle threw those words at him made Daryl’s blood run cold. “Makes no difference.”

He took a deep breath, as he tried to keep his voice unwavering as he answered. “How can you be so sure?” 

“Right about now,” Daryl’s wasn’t looking at the woods as Merle continued to talk, instead he was seeing his friends, his family just as if they were right in front of him, “he must be celebrating the housewarming party,” he was seeing Carol smiling at him like she had done after the tombs, he was seeing Glenn laughing, Carl giggling, even little asskicker as she looked up at him with her big blue eyes. “Probably he’s already buried what was left of your friends.”

Daryl’s jaw clenched, his knuckles white because of how hard he was gripping his crossbow. “Family,” he muttered as he started to move away. 

“What are you mumbling boy?!” Merle’s voice at that moment sounded exactly like Will Dixon’s did, and it made Daryl stop. 

“I say they’re my family,” Daryl didn’t turn to look at Merle, but his voice was strong and clear as he said the words. 

“I am your family,” Merle sneered as he took a step closer to Daryl, to what the younger brother reacted by turning to face him. There was definitely something different in his brother, Merle thought, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. 

“So are they.”

-.-.-.-.-

Someone had to look after Rick. That had been the general consensus as they met at breakfast to try and prepare for what would eventually fall upon them. And Murphy had drawn the short straw… literally. 

Murphy took a deep breath as he sat in the watch tower, now free of their latest tenants since the four of them had decided to relocate to the empty D Block. He watched as Rick moved pallets around, giving the bridge a barrier to hide behind in case they got attacked, or when they got attacked. 

His charge kept looking at something outside their fences that Murphy had tried to see, but couldn’t. The man was losing it and he just hoped he didn’t take the rest of them with him; even less after what had happened the night before. 

Carol was just something else. The older woman had not only taken a part of his, and his brothers’ heart, but she seemed to have burrowed herself into their very soul as it seems. To wake up beside her that morning, to wake up to see the small smile on her face as she slept beside him; he had never felt something like that before. Connor had teased him softly, but he knew his brother understood it, because the two of them felt things the same way. She was just something else. 

It was too soon to talk about feelings, he knew that. That didn’t mean he didn’t have them. He would protect her, just as he would protect Connor, and Daryl… if the arse showed his face back in the prison. Murphy couldn’t help looking at the horizon, searching for the form so much like his own. The pang in his heart when he didn’t find it was just beside the part that belonged now to Carol; he just hoped he hadn’t given it away for nothing. 

-.-.-.-.

Connor stood behind Carol as they watched Carl help Glenn draw the map of the inside of the prison. The young boy explaining to Glenn  how him and Murphy had rescued the wayward group now residing in D block. 

“There’s a breach there, that’s what Tyresse said they came through,” Carl pointed at the part that showed the back of the prison, as Connor moved closer to look over Carol’s shoulder.

“But we had cleared that area already,” Connor pointed out, as he put a hand on Carol’s shoulder as he leaned even further, “we thought we had closed that breach already.”

“Apparently not,” Glenn muttered as he sat back on his hunches, sighing as the weight of the world dropped over his shoulders. “We need to work on that, as well as prepare for the Governor.”

“But how can you be so sure he’s going to come?” The innocence in Beth’s words made Connor smile, wondering how the girl had made it this far untouched by the harshness of the world. “Maybe you scared him of.”

“He had heads in fish tanks,” Connor squeezed Carol’s shoulder as he felt her start shaking at Michonne words. “Both humans and walkers, he’s coming.”

“We should hit him now.” Glenn said as he looked first to Michonne and then to Connor. 

“What?” It was Carol that muttered this, soft enough that only Connor was able to hear her. She was tense as he moved from behind her to her side, pulling her closer to him as he moved his arm over her shoulders. 

But apparently it wasn’t soft enough, Glenn eyes moved to hers and she felt like crying at the anguish she saw in her friend’s eyes. “He won’t be expecting it. We can go in there, and put a bullet in his head.”

“We’re not assassins,” Carol said, keeping her eyes on Glenn as he stood back up, moving towards her. Her eyes moved to Connor as he snorted at her side, chuckling even more when everyone’s eyes moved to him. 

“He does deserve it, love, he’s no innocent man.” Her eyes were on his, and he saw the moment she realized what he was saying. The fight left her eyes and she gave him a little nod, as if letting him know she understood what he was saying. Phillip Blake would have been someone the saints would have taken out in another life, there was no lie in that. 

Glenn nodded at Connor as he turned to Michonne. But Connor didn’t have eyes for anyone other than Carol. He moved back from her, putting out his hand for her to take it. He saw hesitance in her eyes, before she took a deep breath and took it. He pulled her up, just as Glenn moved to face off with Hershel.

“He didn’t know you were coming, and look what happened.” The face-off between the two men was something Carol never thought she would see. “Oscar was killed, Daryl was captured,” Carol felt as Connor squeezed her hand tighter at the mention of his brother, “you and Maggie were almost executed.”

“You can’t stop me,” Glenn was radiating anger and pain, and Connor didn’t really want to leave his place beside Carol to try and stop him. 

“Rick would never allow this.”

“Do you really think he’s in a position to say anything about this? And also, those decisions we have made without him? They had worked out pretty well.” He pointed at where Connor and Axel were standing.

“T-Dog lost his life here, Lori too.” The mention of her dead friends almost made Carol’s knees buckle. If it hadn’t been for the grasp she had on Connor she was sure she would have broken down right there. “The men that were here too. What are we waiting for? If he’s really on his way here, we should leave. We’ve done it before; we’ll do it again.”

“That was back when you had two legs, and we didn’t have a baby crying every four hours.”

“We can’t stay here.”

“We can’t run.”

.-.-.-

“You got a minute,” Carol looked up as Connor rested his shoulder against the door of ‘their’ cell  as she moved around inside it. 

“I’m just putting something together,” he walked in as she showed him the three bags she seemed to be preparing. “Just in case we have to run, so we have something.” She had gone back to look at the bags as soon as she realized it was him, for once not meeting his eyes. 

“Carol…”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Her eyes wouldn’t meet his, but he could see how her hands were shaking as she tried to continue on with her task. She might not have known them for long, but she knew them; she knew that she had hurt him the moment the words had come out of her mouth. 

“How did you mean it then? Is that what you think we are? Me and Murph? Heartless assassins?”

“Connor, no.” It was until then that her head came up, and her blue eyes finally met his. 

“Then? Help me understand, love.” He walked until he was able to sit in her bed, beside the packs. “Because one moment you seem to understand who we are, what we did… but then.”

“Then I say shit like I did.”

Carol had turned away from him once again, so he took her hand and pulled her to him. With a grunt she landed on his lap, allowing him to put his arms around her waist keeping her there. “I just want to make sure you know, that man, the Governor, he’s no better than those we killed back in Boston, he’s a bad man and he deserves everything that’s coming his way.”

Her hands had gone to rest over his  stomach softly, she turned her face so she could see his eyes. “I just don’t want to lose anyone else,” her voice was small, and Connor felt his heart bleed for her. 

“I told you before,” he moved to rest his forehead against her, “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you it won’t happen, because it will.” He squeezed her softly as he felt her tremble in his arms, a few tears falling down her cheeks. “But I will tell you, that both me and Murphy? We’ll do everything we can to stay with you as long as we can.”

Silence fell upon them, as they sat together in their own little sanctuary. Carol sniffed as she brought one of her hands to her cheek to get rid of the tears that were falling down. “How can this be?” Carol’s voice broke their peace a few minutes later, Connor just hummed to her in answer as if to let her continue her trail of thought. “That in such a small time, you two just came into my life like hurricanes and turned everything upside down.”

“Oi, I like to think that rather turn it upside down, we turned it to their rightful side.”

“That makes no sense at all.”

“Did Murphy and I ever told you about Doc?”

-.-.-.-

The moment Daryl heard the baby cry, everything else became stopped mattering. The Mexican family had no idea of what was going on when they saw him pointing his crossbow at Merle, and to be honest he wasn’t sure either. He had just reacted, and since he had left his brother’s influence behind, his reactions had stopped being those of a Dixon man, and started being his own.

Merle was fuming as they watched the car drive away. Daryl turned on his heel to walk away from his brother and the temper tantrum that was going to follow; he couldn’t even feel any satisfaction as he saw he had been right, it was the Yellow Jacket River. 

His actions had just been automatic. He couldn’t leave a baby to die, he couldn’t just stay there and watch as a group of innocent people got eaten alive when he could have done something to help. And once everything was done? He couldn’t let, for the first time in his life, his brother get away with being a complete asshole.  

It took Merle at least a mile to be able to catch up to him, but both of them were still fuming and the distance hadn’t made any difference.

“What the fuck were you doing pointing that thing at me?” Merle sneered from behind at him, while Daryl stomped through the woods not even trying to hide the fact that he had started on his way back to the prison since the bridge.

“They were fucking scared; you were just being a jackass.”

“They were rude, they owed us a token of gratitude.” Merle was almost jogging trying to catch up to his younger brother. “And watch your tone when talking to me, boy.”

“They didn’t owe us shit!”

“You’re helping people out, out of the goodness of your heart, no?”

“What if I am, Merle?” Daryl finally turned around to look at his older brother. For once he didn’t appear as menacing as he had always done. 

“Is that what your Sherriff Rick taught you?”

“There was a fucking baby!”

“Because otherwise you would have left them to the biters?” They were seeing eye to eye for the first time in months, probably for the first time ever.

“I went back for you, you weren’t there. I didn’t cut off your hand either, you did that, way before you had to. You asked for it.”

“You know what’s funny to me?” Merle said chuckling humorlessly as his eyes looked at his brother up and down. “You and Sheriff Rick are like this,” he put his hand up, crossing his fingers. “But I bet you never told him that we were planning on robbing that camp.”

“I didn’t tell him,” Daryl said, his eyes fixed on Merle’s. For once, he was not afraid of his brother, for once he wasn’t ashamed of what had happened. “I don’t care if you do.”

“And what will Rick fucking Grimes do? You think he will let you stay?”

“He’s not the only person there.”

“The bitch you going back for? You think that you, a pussy bastard son of a bitch who can’t even get a hard on will be enough for her?”

“Shut up,” Daryl said as he clenched his jaw while he looked at his brother.

“I’m just saying the truth, little brother.”

“Shut the fuck up, Merle.”

“The truth is, those people in that prison? They don’t know you, and they would send you away the moment they hear about who you really are and what you were going to do.”

“It didn’t happen,” Daryl yelled at Merle, getting in his face as he did.

“Because I wasn’t there to help you.”

“Like when we were kids? Huh?”

“Is that reason enough to lose my hand?”

“You lost your hand because you’re a simple minded piece of shit.” Daryl said as he turned on his heel to continue walking back home, back to his real family.

“Oh yeah?” Merle yelled after him. “You don’t know nothing you bastard.” The next thing Daryl knew, he was kneeling on the ground. The shock of being thrown off, together with the sudden absence of the back of his shirt made him dizzy.

Merle was silent for once, his eyes fixed not on the Daryl’s shirt that he had torn off, but on Daryl’s back. The myriad of scars littered all over his little brother’s back shocked Merle to the core. “I,” the words just wouldn’t form in his mind as he couldn’t see anything but those scars. “I didn’t know.”

Daryl was trying to keep his breathing calm as he tried to pull what was left of his shirt back over his back. Giving up as he put on the backpack to cover them “Yeah, you did.” He couldn’t help but shiver as the cool humid air of the woods touched his back. “He did the same to you,” he hated how his voice broke as he said the words.

“That’s why you left first,” he was still giving his back to his brother as he picked his discarded arrows. 

“I had to man, If I hadn’t I would have killed the bastard otherwise.” Daryl was finally on his feet, but something else was bothering him, and he knew it was time.

“That’s what he used to call me, you know?” He could feel Merle at his back. “Bastard. I always thought he was just an asshole; he was just being Will Dixon. But now I try to remember, and he never called you that, did he?” For once, Daryl felt somewhat at peace. “You always knew, didn’t you?”

“Daryl,” Merle said softly, all fight and anger gone from his voice. Daryl just huffed as he took his silence for acceptance and started to make his way away from his brother once and for all. 

“Where you going?”

“Back to where I belong, back to my family. To my brothers and my woman.”

“I can’t go with you,” Merle was desperate, the way Daryl was looking at him was something he had never seen in his brother before. And for once Merle Dixon was truly afraid he had lost the only family he had left. “I tried to kill that black bitch, I almost killed the Chinese kid.”

“He’s Korean,” Daryl yelled over his shoulder as he started to move away.

“Don’t matter man, I can’t go with you.”

“I might be the one that’s walking away,” Daryl tried to control the tears he knew were about to start to fall down his cheeks, “but you’re the one who's leaving, again.”

.-.-.-

Michonne relieved Connor from his babysitting duty, and he returned as soon as he could back inside. The quiet of being out there, watching and waiting? That just wasn’t something he really liked.

He was barely back inside when he was taken away in a mission together with his brother, Carl and Glenn to look at the breach in the tombs and try and contain the damage. He winked at Carol as he passed her by, throwing a threatening look at Axel as he saw him linger around her, way too close for his likening. 

“Fuck,” Connor muttered as they walked the hallways they had thought were walker free by then, only to find them full once more. “When will these motherfuckers stop?”

Glenn frowned as he threw the brothers a look, before looking at Carl who followed behind Murphy. 

“What?” Murphy asked as he noticed Glenn’s looks. 

“You shouldn’t curse in front of a child like that.” Glenn muttered as he moved back to allow Connor to slam a blade into the walker that was approaching him. 

“Deputy over there knows his shit, don’t you lad?” Connor said smirking at he saw Carl return the gesture. 

“Also he’s smart enough not to tell on us when he eventually fucks up in front of Carol, isn’t that right?” Murphy continued as he and Connor took point, stopping as they turned towards the boiler room only to find it full of walkers. 

“Fuck.”

.-.-.-.-.-.

Axel was following her around, and he wasn’t even trying to hide it. Carol had no idea what to do about the chatterbox of a man, it wasn’t like he was anything other than annoying and horny; but she was in no way trying to make him think she was giving him any encouragement to further whatever he wanted with her. 

Duties had been given, and both old and new parts of the group were going around the prison trying to fortify it. The attack was imminent, and she was set on surviving it. She and what was left of her family. 

Axel and her had been sent to move the crates around the bridge, to give them some cover in case of an attack. The two of them had started to chat, and for once although he was still clearly flirting with her, Axel was at least not being disgusting by it. 

Her mind wasn’t in the chatter with Axel though, her mind was on the three men that seemed to own all of her free thoughts. When Daryl had become her best friend, she had known that as much as she loved him; as much as her feelings for him weren’t ever going to be reciprocated, well at least she had platonic love with him. She knew he cared about her over almost anyone in their group, after all she was the only one who truly knew him. 

The months they spent running from one place to the other had not only cemented their friendship, but also the trust they had in one another. She was the only one that truly listened to him, the only one he allowed to be teased by; and she just loved him so much for that. 

Men had always been a cause of pain in her life. From her deadbeat father that abandoned her mom when she was just a baby, to the asshole that she ended up marrying. Daryl was probably the first male that had been able to break down her walls and truly gotten to become a part of her heart. And then the other two just leaped over the walls and burrowed themselves right there beside Daryl. 

Carol answered Axel’s babble at the right moments, making the man think he had all of her attention as they continued their task. A pang in her heart reminded her of how she would never know how Daryl would have reacted to Axel’s flirting, would he have been jealous but followed her lead like Connor? Would he have just ignored Axel’s existence like Murphy did? Or maybe he wouldn’t even have cared, after all he hadn’t cared enough to come back and say goodbye.

She knew that Connor was right, there was definitely something else going on. She sighed as she looked at Rick standing in the yard- he had left something out, she was sure of that. 

But what use was there of her being mad at him? That wouldn’t bring back Daryl; and as much as she tried to think of them as part of the family already, he still had some veto power over the twins staying with them. Especially as erratically as he had been behaving lately. (perfect- just leave as is)

“You’re a damn fine lady,” Axel said grinning after she offered absent mindedly to help him learn how to shoot.

“Don’t get any ideas.”

.-.-.-.-

They had tried to barricade the hallways as much as they could, but as long as they didn’t do something to the breach on the back of the prison, the geeks would continue to enter. 

Murphy pushed Carl softly, teasing, as the four of them got back into their cellblock. The boy was tense, and with enough reason, but he knew it wasn’t good for him. His father was losing it, he needed to be kept on a straight path by someone. 

“Deputy needs to get some food,” Connor said as he threw the two of them a couple of protein bars, before doing the same to Glenn. “We need to keep our strength up.”

“What we need to do,” Glenn said between clenched jaws, “is to go over there, and kill that mother fucker before he comes back here.”

“While I agree with the general idea,” Connor said as he moved towards Connor, presenting a united front against Glenn. “We need to plan this thing through, pulling something like that, in a place like you described is not going to be easy.”

“We also can’t leave this place unprotected, not again.” Murphy added, placing a hand on Carl’s shoulder as the boy looked from one man to the other. 

“We need to attack.”

“And we will, I promise you that.” Connor approached the riled up Glenn. He, just like Carl, was wearing part of some of the swat team equipment they found lying around. “But we need to be smart about this, half assed plans get people killed.”

There was a look shared between the brothers. Thoughts of the friends they lost, Rocco and Greenly; as well as their own father running through their heads. Maybe if they had thought about it better, planned it better, the three of them might still be alive… or maybe not. 

“I don’t care,” Glenn muttered moving to start packing up some ammo. The brothers shared a look over Carl’s head as the younger man continued muttering to himself as he packed up. 

“Come on, lad.” Connor said as he moved a hand to try and stop Glenn from grabbing even more ammo. “You can’t do this, think about everyone else, we need to be smart about this.”

“I am,” Glenn said stopping what he was doing and looking down at where his hands were clutching the ammo, “I’m doing what’s best for everyone.”

“Going out there half arsed and getting yourself killed?” Murphy muttered as he frowned looking down at Carl.

“I’m trying to end this.”

“Then wait until we have a proper plan, Murph and I, we have some experience on this type of thing. Let us help, but we did promise Carol we would always do our best to come back to her,” Connor turned and winked at Carl, who gave him a small smile as an answer. “So please, don’t make us break that promise lad.”

Glenn sighed, and it seemed like the fight just left him. The idea was a good one, but as angry as he was he knew they were right. They were not Maggie trying to push him away, or Hershel trying to be condescending. They were being honest, and he knew they were right. 

He just nodded, sighing once again when Connor just threw an arm around his shoulders and moved him away from what he had been packing. 

“We can even go kill some of those things, if you reckon it will help.”

-.-.-.-

Carol looked at where Rick was drifting outside the prison fences. Her friend was not in a good place, and it made her anxious. It made her anxious on what his reactions to whatever was coming were, as well as how little attention he was putting on his children. 

She, better than almost anyone else in their family, understood grief. When her precious Sophia had walked out of that barn, she had felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest. She was sure, that if it hadn’t been for Daryl, she would have joined her little girl not soon after. Rick was still in that place, it had been a couple of days now and he was still there. It wasn’t like he wasn’t allowed to grieve, but he had two young children that depended on him.

She looked over her shoulder as she felt someone, Axel, tapping her shoulder. Behind him she saw as Tyresse and Sasha walked out of D Block and started making their way to the watchtower, where they were going to change guards with Allen and Ben. 

“Stress got your man Rick in a bad place?”

“Can you blame him?” Her arms were crossed in front of her chest. She had handled his jabbing all day, and she was tired. All she wanted was some quiet and maybe a hug. 

“Nah,” he was standing closer than she would have liked, so she just took a small step to the side, wondering if she would have to address her concerns to him directly to keep him from bothering her anymore. “Can’t say that I do.”

“I’ve seen a lot of people break in here, but not me.”

Carol tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes at his words. He wasn’t a bad man, and maybe if she hadn’t had her heart stolen by those other blue eyed men he wouldn’t have been a bad choice… but not now. 

“I got all better on the inside, got more rules,” Carol looked over at him, trying to figure him out. “Life made much more sense that way.” 

Her thoughts drifted to the twins, and what would they think about Axel’s words. For some reason, she doubted prison made any sense to them. In their minds, and in hers if she was completely honest, they hadn’t been wrong to get rid of those men. And they didn’t deserve to be locked in there with all the other prisoners, Axel included. 

“Didn’t you miss your brother?” Carol asked him as she made a face at his words.

“My brother,” Axel chuckled as he shook his head. Carol felt as Tyresse and Sasha walked pass them, giving the woman a small smile as she looked their way. “Hell no,” Axel chuckled and Carol shook her head, “he had a real money problem.”

The sound of the metal door that lead to cell block C slamming behind them made Carol look over her shoulder, the smile that appeared on her face as she saw Carl, Glenn and the twins walk down the cage being real for once. 

Axel jostled her with a soft elbow to the side, as if to get her attention while chuckling like he had said something hilarious. “What kind of problem?” Carol asked, a tad annoyed at the interruption. 

“He didn’t lend me any.” For once his words were funny and Carol laughed alongside him, shaking her head slightly as she tried to stop. 

“One time he…” Blood sprayed Carol’s face as Axel’s body fell over her. She had no idea what was going on as her heart raced a mile a minute. One moment she was talking with Axel, the next thing she knew she was hiding behind his corpse as she felt the bullets enter his dead body on the other side. 

.-.-.-.-.-

Daryl knew Merle was following him, he had been doing so since the incident after the bridge. To be honest, he didn’t care at the moment. Something in his chest just felt warmer and warmer as he started recognizing the trees around him, he knew he was close to the prison. He was close to finally being back with his real family.

He had no idea what he was going to have to do to get their forgiveness. He knew that once he was there, in front of them, they wouldn’t send him away. Or at least he hoped. With or without Merle. 

What he had no idea about was how Carol, Connor and Murphy would welcome him. Connor and Murphy were his brothers; he was sure of that. Merle hadn’t said anything, but his silence was condemning. There were so many things that made a lot more sense if he saw them through that perspective; and he couldn’t wait to share them with Carol. 

Carol, that was someone who he truly had no idea of how she was going to react to him. He had left her, and he hadn’t even said goodbye. She was going to be hurt, that was for sure; but the question was if she would forgive him for it. He hoped she did, the possibility that she wouldn’t was just too outrageous for him to even imagine. 

When the first shot was fired, they were still about half a mile away from the fences. He didn’t even need to say anything. Before the second fire was even shot he was running as fast as he could towards where the sound came from.  He wasn’t going to lose anyone else today. 

-.-.-.-.

The moment the first shot was made, Murphy thought the worse. He was looking, glaring, at where Axel was standing next to Carol when he saw her face splattered with blood. He didn’t think, he just reacted. 

Later, Carl would tell him he yelled something to Connor, but right then, there wasn’t anything else in his mind but the need to get to Carol. To protect her. He pulled the gun from the back of his pants and started shooting, as he saw her dive behind the dead man’s body and take cover behind him. 

At the first respite they got from the shooting, he ran across the yard and skidded to a stop behind her. She was covered now, he had her. He knew Connor would have his back he always did. The shooting started right away, and he huddled closer to her, pushing her closer to Axel’s back as he plastered himself to her back. 

“I’m here,” he could feel how fast her breathing was, and he knew she had to calm down. “Con has our backs, I’m going to see if I can shoot them down.” He felt her nod, as he raised his head slightly just to lower it down right away as the next burst of fire was shot their way. 

“There’s one in the tower, get that one first.” Murphy yelled to Connor. “When I tell you to, you get up and run.”

“Now!” Murphy knew Connor had hit the target when there was a slightly longer respite between shots, pushing Carol on her ass as she crouched down and ran towards where Connor was waiting for her. A few moments later, Murphy joined them. Hissing when a bullet got too close to comfort. 

Beth, Carl and Maggie had seemed to produce firearms for Carol and them from out of nowhere. At Glenn’s signal they all moved towards the fence. Connor and Murphy made sure Carl and Carol were between them at all times. They were not going to let anything happen to them. 

“Motherfucker,” Carl muttered under his breath as they all saw the same thing. Whom they assumed was the governor, standing by a truck as the rest of his henchmen pointed at them from around him. 

Carol heard what Carl had muttered, and she tried not to laugh. The influence of Murphy on the boy was becoming too strong, and although it wasn’t the time and place her first reaction had been to tell him not to curse. 

“What is he waiting for?” Carol asked softly as they watch them just stand there. A noise from their left made them all look up, only to crouch down again as the Governor’s men opened fire against the watchtower. 

“Daddy,” Beth said softly as they all saw a figure lying down on the grass. Hershel had been talking to Rick, and now he was stuck there. Seemed like he was safe for the moment since the men didn’t seem concerned about him. 

The sound of an approaching motor vehicle caught all of their attention. With incredulous eyes they all watched as a truck approached their gates, not stopping and ramming straight into the yard. Silence reigned. No one knew what was going on since the truck had stopped and no one was coming out. 

Then, a ramp was lowered down and walkers started getting out of it. Murphy snarled and shot the man that got out of the front of the truck, feeling a little satisfaction as the man dropped dead. 

“Hershel!” Glenn yelled as they all saw as the walkers started to make their way towards the oldest member of their family. Glenn looked around frantically, starting to run towards one of the trucks as they all tried to open the inner gate. 

-.-.-.-

Merle was panting by the time they busted from between the trees, only to see as a group of walkers had Rick against the fence about to be bitten. Neither brother thought twice, before Daryl let an arrow fly to the walker closest to his friend, and Merle charged against the one around him. 

The fight was fast and dirty, as the three of them tried to dispose of the walkers surrounding them; while at the same time trying to keep an eye out in case the Governor decided to come back. 

Daryl saw as Glenn and the samurai chick got Hershel into the truck, driving them back to safety. From where he was he could make the form of the twins and Carol, as they shot at the walkers from the inner gate. They were safe, they were all alright. 

He turned to look first at Rick, who looked shocked to see Merle standing beside him after actually helping him, then to his older brother who was still panting while looking mockingly as usual. Yes, he was back home. 


	10. I ain't Judas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really excited for you guys to read this one. Please drop me a comment, they are always amazing to read.

Chapter X

I Ain’t a Judas.

The truth was, they didn’t had enough ammo. If the things continued like they were, with the threat of the Governor over them, they couldn’t afford to waste ammo in walkers, so they didn’t. 

The moment the trucks drove away, and they were sure Rick hadn’t being eaten by a heard, it was as if the fight left Carol completely. The amount of adrenaline running through her veins, from having been splattered by blood due to how close she was to having been killed, to later having followed the others to try and save their family.  It was just too much and now she was crashing. 

Carol turned and left the rest of the family as they covered Rick, Daryl and Merle on their path up the hill and towards safety. She just couldn’t deal with it right then. So she turned her back and left. 

Murphy didn’t know what he was feeling exactly. The panic he had felt as he had seen Carol lying there being shot at, together with the fact that apparently Daryl was finally back; he was just a ball of messy feelings. He didn’t notice when Carol left her place between Carl and Connor; his eyes on Daryl as he started to make his way back to them. He was with Rick, with whom he still had crossed feelings about, and an older guy who he could only guess was Merle. 

Daryl tried not to look, but he wasn’t able to do so. The moment they had the situation somehow controlled, he looked for them. Even from as far away as he was, he could make the three of them out perfectly. With a pang in his chest, he watched as Carol turned on her heels and left her place by the inner fence, with Connor quickly following her steps. He knew he shouldn’t have hoped to get a great welcome, but his heart broke a little as he saw them turn their backs on him and leave. 

Connor had to choose. The happiness he felt as he saw Daryl appear behind the fences was for a moment eclipsed by the worry he felt as he saw Carol start to go back inside. He frowned as he saw her drop her weapon and stagger her way back into their cell block as the people around them checked on each other. With a last side look at Murphy, knowing he was probably going to wait on Daryl, he turned and followed behind her. 

They didn’t go far. Carol stumbled up the last few steps as she made her way to the door, avoiding crashing to the ground only because Connor was fast enough to wrap his arm around her waist and kept her upright. “Sorry,” she muttered as she tried to hide her face from him. 

“It’s all right, love.” Connor said softly as he pushed the door open, leading both of them in silence back to their cell. He helped her up the stairs, and didn’t let go until he had her sitting down in her bed. Before kneeling in front of her, trying to meet her downcast eyes he asked, “You injured?”

She shook her head, and Connor didn’t say anything. He moved from his position to reach for one of her dirty shirts and a half full bottle of water. Pouring some of the water on the shirt, he started to softly  wipe the blood from her face. 

“He was just talking about his brother,” Carol whispered as she allowed Connor to help her, one of her hands was pinching her thigh while the other had moved on its own accord to rest on Connor’s shoulder, like she needed the contact to stay grounded. “He was just joking with me and the next moment…” 

Connor pulled her into his arms when she was unable to finish what she was saying. He rubbed her back as she burrowed herself under his chin, practically straddling him as they sat on the cold cell floor. She had been too close to Axel- the thoughts of ‘what if’ just ran through his head and he hugged her closer. If the Governor had decided to shoot at her instead of at Axel she would have been gone, and there wouldn’t have been anything for them to do. Connor’s eyes burned with unshed tears, so he just burrowed his face in her short hair. She was more important than anything else right then. 

.-.-.-

They made it to the inner gate. 

Daryl couldn’t meet Murphy’s searching eyes as they waited for the gate to open for them. While he had told Merle that he was going back ‘home’ to his family, the thought of also him turning his back as Carol and Connor had done, it was too much.  So his head was down, unable to make eye contact with any members of the family he had left behind over Merle while making his way inside the inner yard. 

“What the fuck,” he heard Merle mutter, making him raise his eyes to look at his brother, just in time to be almost toppled over in a crushing hold. Daryl’s first instinct was to push the person away, he might deserve not to be accepted back in their midst, but he as sure as hell was not letting someone kick the living shit out of him, again. 

It took him a couple of seconds to realize he wasn’t being attacked, but it seemed Murphy didn’t care. The man that wore his face had him in a hug, and Daryl didn’t know what to do. He was standing there, tense with his arms at his sides as Murphy hugged him. It felt like hours for Daryl, but it was probably just seconds before his clone pulled back and smiled at him. “I knew you would be back.”

Daryl just grunted something even he didn’t know what it was, while he tried to stop his face from going completely red. 

“What the fuck is this?” Merle asked loudly, reminding everyone who were either watching Daryl and Murphy, or Carl and Rick’s reunion, that he was in fact there. 

Murphy looked at Merle. He moved so he and Daryl were shoulder to shoulder, having accepted by then how alike the two of them actually looked. He saw as Merle’s eyes moved from him to Daryl and back. 

Merle’s mouth was slightly open, and Daryl was shocked to see his brother for once truly and absolutely gob smacked.

Murphy looked at the older man up and down, raising his eyebrows and making a face that said he was not impressed with what he was seeing. “We must have gotten all the good looks in the family, brother.” The words, together with the arm he threw over Daryl’s shoulder and the look in Merle’s eyes as he registered them, made Daryl let out the first real laugh in a long time. 

Murphy raised his eyebrows up and down at Merle, before turning and keeping Daryl with him as he made his way back into cell block C. 

“Welcome home, brother.”   

.-.-.-.-.-.-

The sound of the lock on the bars made Connor and Carol realise a lot more time had passed than they expected. They slowly stood up from the floor where they had been still in each other's arms and slowly, not letting go of each other, made their way to the catwalk. 

Connor put his arm around Carol’s waist, pulling her close as they watched everyone move around the cell block. Murphy and Daryl were making their way upstairs to them, and the two of them followed the men with their eyes every step of the way. 

Daryl looked worse for wear. He was half walking; half being dragged by the arm Murphy kept around his shoulders towards them. He stole a glance to the pair of them, standing outside one of the upper cells as Murphy continued to drag him towards them. 

He wanted to talk to them, he wanted to explain; but at the same time he wanted to run away and never come back. He didn’t want to hear what they would say to him; he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it if they did. But he owed it to them, he owed it to himself. 

“Come here, lass.” Murphy said the moment they were close enough that it was just among them. Daryl was confused when Murphy practically pulled Carol from Connor’s arms and into his, burrowing his face where her shoulder and neck met, breathing her in like he hadn’t done so in a long time. 

Connor didn’t give him a long time to ponder. He approached Daryl as Murphy took comfort in Carol being safe, slightly less emotionally than his younger brother. He put out his hand for Daryl to shake. “I knew you would be back, brother.” 

Daryl didn’t know what to do. He was not expecting that from Connor from what he had seen outside. Connor didn’t care about Daryl’s lack of words. The oldest MacManus seemed to understand the youngest Dixon’s unsaid words and didn’t wait any longer for him to act. He put his hand on his shoulder and gave him a soft squeeze. Daryl just hung his head in shame, feeling the burning sensation in his eyes that usually preceded tears once again. 

“She’s good.” Connor said to Murphy as he pulled Daryl a little closer to them. Daryl did raise his eyes at Connor’s words, a confused expression on his face. “She was talking to Axel when the Governor arrived, she had to use his body as a shield.”

Daryl felt like his heart had stopped beating for a moment. From Connor’s face he could tell it had been bad, the older man was still scared even if he tried to hide it. Daryl took a step closer to where Murphy was still clutching Carol to him, hearing her giggle as he swayed their bodies from side to side as he continued the hug. The need to touch her for Daryl was overwhelming.

“Carol...” Connor voice broke through his thoughts, and he stopped once he noticed he had started to raise a hand to try and touch her arm closest to him. She raised her head from where she had been hiding it in Murphy’s neck, and Daryl remembered how beautiful he had always thought her eyes were. Without saying anything else, Connor threw the hand he had over Daryl’s shoulder to over his arms hugging him closer, as he opened his other arm to Carol who immediately moved in. Without having any idea of what was going on, in just a couple of seconds Daryl found himself in a four-way hug that instead of making him want to bolt, made him feel fully at home for the first time in his life. 

“I told you, didn’t I?” Daryl couldn’t really tell who was it that kept on mumbling the same words, as he tried to keep the tears at bay. “I told you he would come back to us.”

Carol had not even tried, the moment she realized she had Daryl close enough to touch, the water works had started. She was trying to hide her face in Murphy’s chest at her left, but with how close the four of them were physically, there was no hiding. And that applied for everyone. They stood like that until Carol’s eyes were dry, and Daryl had stopped sniffing. And once they parted, they knew it was there where they belonged. 

.-.-.-.-

Merle was an asshole, that was a universally known truth. What the world seemed to forget most of the time, was that he was a damned intelligent asshole. He knew there were things he had to take care of, and first order was to try and save his (and his brother’s) skin. 

He had been allowed to stay, for the time being. The night was close to falling upon them, and no one felt like having to worry about him at the moment, so he was ‘locked’ out of the cellblock and told to shut up for once in his life.  

But there was just something he wasn’t able to put aside, and that was what he had seen as they arrived to the prison. A man, who looked exactly like his little brother, and who apparently was sure they were related. 

Rick hadn’t allowed him into the cell block, hell, he hadn’t even been allowed to the black man’s cell block either. He had been left to bunk in a place where everyone could see him at all times, like some kind of zoo animal. But at least he hadn’t been kicked in the ass and sent on his way; at least there was that. 

And then there was the other thing. He had also seen as the man wearing Daryl’s face marched them up the stairs to meet a woman and another man. Then they had ended up pulling his brother, the man who barely let anyone touch him, into some kind of long lasting hug? And he had allowed it? There was something going on there, and he was going to find out everything about it before it was too late. Who were this men getting ideas into his brother’s head? Who were they to think they had any claims over  _ his _ baby brother?

.-.-.-

Carol could feel Merle’s eyes on them as they separated from their little reunion. His blue eyes moved from one brother to the other, as if trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Her first instinct was to try and cower as his gaze fell on her.  She had known men like Merle; she was sure she had married one, but she was no longer that woman. And she would not cower at the gaze of a man ever again. 

Night was falling, everyone was dead tired, and Tyreese’s group still had their fallen to mourn. Allen and Ben had been on the tower when they were attacked, Allen had been the other casualty apart from Axel during the attack.

Rick and Glenn took off to help bury their dead, but for Carol there were more important things to do at the moment.  

“Are you hurt?” Carol asked softly as she walked inside what they had turned into ‘their’ cellblock. She knew the other two would usher Daryl behind her, they were not letting him out of their sights for some time. 

Daryl shook his head, silently allowing the twins to push him towards the bed softly. He sat down with a sigh, blue eyes following Carol as she moved around the small space pulling out some of his stuff from where she had stashed it. 

“He’s alright, love,” Murphy said softly as he moved towards Carol, taking her hand and stopping her moving around. She had clearly not see his gesture, since she didn’t seem to be able to meet his eyes either. “Are you?”

“She needs rest,” Connor answered as he moved and sat in the bed beside Daryl. “She had a couple of scrapes and bruises, but she needs food, water and rest.”

“I’m alright,” Carol frowned as she finally turned towards the bed, frowning as she looked at both Daryl but glaring once her eyes moved to Connor. 

“You haven’t properly rested since before he found you in the tombs,” Connor said, knocking his shoulder against Daryl’s making the other man grunt at the unexpected movement. “You promised you would, but you haven’t.”

“You haven’t?” Daryl rough voice made something tighten inside Carol as he finally said something to them. She had missed his voice. 

“We did get some rest last night.”

“Just until Murphy there almost had to pin you down because of all the moving around you were doing.” Daryl’s eyebrows raised as he processed Connor’s words. Pin  _ her _ down?

“It’s just been crazy lately, can’t fault me for that.”

“No, we can’t,” Murphy said as he moved to sit on Daryl’s other side and Carol couldn’t help but smile at the picture the three of them made. “But we can fault you for not resting when you have the chance, and now is one of those chances.”

“And that goes for you too,” Connor said turning to Daryl as he said so. 

“Me?” Daryl asked incredulously as he blushed when he found himself the center of attention.

“You look like death warmed over, you need to wash, eat and sleep, in that order if possible,” Carol giggled as Daryl made a face at Connor’s words. 

“You kind of stink.” She added when Daryl turned his gaze to her, looking affronted at the thought.

Daryl just huffed, trying not to smile as his reaction made her laugh harder. 

.-.-.

Merle didn’t move from where he was lying down when he heard the cell block door open and close.  He was lying in the dark not sleeping, trying to erase from his mind the image he had seen earlier. His brother being welcomed into the prison like no Dixon had ever been before. Not only by the man that looked just like him, but there was another one and also there was the mouse. 

“You look nothing like us.” The sound of an unknown voice with a weird accent made Merle jump up from where he had been lying down. He sneered at the man standing in the shadows, leaning a shoulder in the open door of the cell he had been put in. “Murphy was right, the good looks definitely didn’t run on the Dixon line.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Merle asked, looking up and down at the tattooed man standing in front of him. He was maybe an inch taller than him, had a visible tattoo in his neck and short hair spiked up. 

“I’m your brother’s older brother, does that makes us some kind of family?” He moved closer to Merle. This boy was either really brave, or really stupid and Merle couldn’t tell which. 

“You ain’t his family, I’m his family.”

“Keep telling yourself that, brother.” Merle felt like flinching at the way the man threw the word ‘brother’ at him. It felt like an insult. 

Merle watched as the man turned on his heels and moved to the kitchen, picking things around before moving back to juggle what he was carrying as he tried to open the door to the cellblock without putting things down. 

For the first time in a long time Merle went to sleep thinking of the woman that had given him life, the woman that had tried everything to keep them safe but in the end had failed. He turned to his side, his back to the rest of the prison, and let one lonely tear fall down from his eye. 

.-.-.-

Daryl didn’t know what to do. All of his things were in the cell he had been pushed into, probably taken there by Carol after he failed to come back the day before. The shame he felt at that was immense, especially after the way the three of them had welcomed him back.

While Connor had gone to get them food, Murphy and Carol had made their mission to get him clean water, a washbasin, soap, a towel, and clean clothes. Murphy had taken all the things to one of the other cells, that apparently the three of them had been using as a place for washing themselves.

They had given him his space. Daryl had taken his time, making a face when he took off his shirt and finally smelled what the other where smelling. The water wasn't warm but it was way better than whatever he had had the days before. The clothes given him where his, only actually clean.

He made his way back to the cell, to find Murphy sitting on the top bunk while Carol sat over an overturned bucket with her back against the wall. Both of them turned to look at him as he entered, making him feel self-conscious as he dropped his dirty clothes in the pile that was thrown over a corner.

The sound of who he guessed was Connor as he made his way up the stairs prompted him to move further into the cell, leaning his shoulder on the frame of the beds as he looked on.

“My Lady,” Connor said fake bowing in front of Carol, then made his way inside the cell with his arms full of food. “Looders.” He threw to Murphy and Daryl as he moved to drop his spoils over the lower bunk.

The cell was definitely not made for four people, but for some reason that he couldn’t explain, Daryl didn’t feel bothered by it. He watched as Murphy jumped from where he was sitting, and started rummaging through what Connor had brought.

“Did you just called them looders?” Carol asked, a smile on her face as Connor dropped to sit next to her on the ground. Daryl watched on as man moved as if they had known each other for years, resting one of his arms over her legs as he looked up at her.

“Yes, love.” The smile on Connor face was full of mischief.

“What does that mean?” Daryl tried not to frown at how comfortable Carol seemed around them, as he watched her lean down until Connor could say something on her ear, making her laugh as her eyes met his.

“Here,” Murphy said, making Daryl break eye contact with Carol as he passed him a bag of trail mix. In that moment Daryl realized how hungry he actually was, blushing as his stomach grumbled loudly.

“We need to talk about what’s going to happen.” It was Carol that broke the silence while the four of them ate silently. She was looking at Murphy and Daryl, who had yet to sit, as she rested her head against the wall behind her. “He’s going to come back, we need to be prepared.”

“And we will,” Connor said from beside her, his arm still over her legs. He looked at the two men in front of them, and smiled slightly. “We’re all in one place now, we can worry about that tomorrow.”

“But,” Carol started saying before being interrupted by Murphy this time.

“Just for tonight, love. Do I look worried?”

“You look disgusting,” Carol said with a sad smile on her face, thinking of someone else she had loved that she had uttered those words to. With a sniff, and a sad smile she thought a prayer for her friend, her promise of looking after her children as usual in the front of her mind.

-.-.-.-.

Merle couldn’t sleep.

The asshole had come and gone, and he still couldn’t get any sleep. He could hear the murmurs of people not talking, and he wondered if any of those voices were his brother.

Daryl was right in saying he had always known. Maybe when he was younger he hadn’t, he had just been ten when his mamma had run away with him to Boston to live with her cousin, but he had worked it out with time.

It was not just that, there were just so many things that he later understood hadn’t been exactly normal. He remembered his momma being as big as a house, and her telling him he was going to be a big brother soon and that it was going to be his job to protect his little siblings. He remembered her crying, as she sat in a pool of liquid as he ran to call 911. He remembered the kind bearded man with the funny accent that waited with him as the doctors took his momma away. 

He knew Daryl would want answers, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to give them.

He wasn’t sure he was ready for his only family to leave him behind for good.

.-.-.-

Daryl had been sent to sleep in the top bunk.

They hadn’t even asked him; he stood there in silence as Carol started ordering everyone around once their hunger was somewhat satiated. She had smiled at him, tears in her eyes as if he would disappear from in front of her at any moment as she patted the top bunk.

He was tired, so he had accepted. He had taken off his boots before putting his hands on the top bunk and using his strength to get himself to sit on it.

“Night Daryl,” Carol said softly as she patted his knee, before moving to sit down in the lower bunk. Murphy and Connor had disappeared as his attention was on Carol, only to reappear moments later dragging another one of those awful mattresses from another one of the cells.

Carol made a face as she saw them drop the mattress in the floor. “You’re going to get sick from sleeping down there.”

“Are you inviting us to sleep in your bed, love?” Daryl scoffed from where he was lying down looking at the ceiling of the cell.

“The two of you won’t fit, Con.” Carol words made Daryl feel something that he wasn’t sure what it was exactly. He grumbled as he moved to lie on his side, giving them his back.

“Is not the first time we’ve heard that, lass.” Murphy’s voice was dripping with charm and Daryl sneered towards the wall in front of him. He closed his eyes, trying to make his blush disappear.

“Stop,” Carol said as she laughed at Murphy’s words.

Daryl tried to strain his hearing, to try and investigate what was going on under him without actually having to move and see. A few goodnights were said, he could hear who he thought were the twins muttering prayers just after Carol blew off the candle they had been using for light. And then, thankfully because he wasn’t sure if he could handle any more innuendos towards Carol from the twins, he felt asleep.

.-.-.-.-

Merle woke up at the break of dawn.  He wasn’t surprised to see that he wasn’t the first one to wake. The old man, Hershel, was already up heating water while his daughter sat at the table with the baby in her arms.

The last time he had been close enough to a baby that age had been when his own brother had been that small. He had been such a small thing; he still remembers how it had felt to see him in that weird contraption they had kept him for days at the time after he was born. He had been too small; his mother had told him when he asked. He needed to be warm, before he could be out and start getting bigger like his big brother.

Merle looked at the cell he had spied his brother had gone into. He had failed his mother, he had promised her at that time that he would always protect his little brother, because whatever happened he would always be little. And he hadn’t.

He saw as the man that looked like Daryl, Murphy, walk out of the cell his brother had entered the night before. He used the time to try and convince himself of the impossible. The man was a carbon copy of his younger brother, except for the tattoos.

Murphy could feel Merle’s eyes on him, but he was not going to let the man intimidate him.  He knew there was a confrontation brewing in the air. Daryl had been quiet and although that wasn’t uncharacteristic for the man, he could feel it in his bones.

Daryl had looked conflicted. It would take a long time for Murphy to forget the reaction Daryl had had when he had hugged him outside the prison the day before. Murphy looked over his shoulder, to where he could see Carol snuggled into Connor’s back, being the big spoon while they laid in her bed.

A soft smile appeared on Murphy’s face as he saw Daryl jump down from the top bunk, not missing the look the man gave the couple sleeping in the lower bunk. That was something they would have to address later, but one problem at the time.

“Morning.” Daryl’s deep voice made Murphy smile even more. As much as they were alike their voices were just different enough that they could never be confused for each other.

“Slept well?” The nod Daryl gave him as an answer was enough for the usually more vocal brother. They stood side by side looking out to the blue sky through the barred windows. There was no need for words, the mere presence of each other was enough for now.

The moment Daryl moved out of the room Merle couldn’t help but stare even more. If he had thought they looked a lot alike the day before, seeing them from afar, side by side, it was just impossible how identical they were. Daryl said something, and Murphy smiled at him, and Merle could only see Daryl smile in return.

-.-.-.-.-.

It didn’t take long for Rick to get back in the saddle. The man was still not all there, everyone could see that. He looked like he was one more quip away from actually starting a fist fight with Merle; and they all knew who would definitely not win in that fight.

“We’re not leaving,” Rick said as he started pulling out guns from one of the bags. Connor and Murphy shared a look as they stood one at each side of Carol on the catwalk. Daryl looked at them sharply, before starting to pace up and down the hallway in front of the upper cells.

“We can’t stay here,” Hershel said his voice exasperated as he looked at Rick, trying to ignore the mocking smile on Merle’s face where he was standing leaning into the bars of the door that separated him from them.

“What if there’s another sniper?” The words came from Maggie, and the three men up on the catwalk tensed at her words. They couldn’t forget what the sniper had almost cost them the day before.

“We can’t even go out,” Beth muttered from where she was standing up there with them as well. Daryl made a face that the girl didn’t see, to which Carol glared at him as if chastising him.

“What do you think?” Connor said softly so only Carol and his brother could hear, as everyone else continue to bicker. Carol stayed silent, waiting for Murphy to answer. “I’m asking you, love.”

Connor’s words made Carol frown. They were asking her? Why? “I don’t know,” her eyes were on Daryl as he paced up and down, barking words at Merle who kept his eyes on his little brother at all times.

“You and Batman over there have been out there, we haven’t.” Murphy was the one who continued, as if knowing what his brother was trying to get.

“Hershel is barely mobile.” She looked up at Connor, her blue eyes full of intelligence. “Judy would be a liability, I think the best right now would be to try and defend what we have.”

“If he takes the high ground, shit-” Merle laughed humorlessly “-he can just starve us out if he wants to.” Their eyes and attention went back to what was going on downstairs, as Daryl finally stopped walking and stood at Murphy’s other side. Everyone’s eyes were on Merle.

“Let’s put him in the other cell block,” Maggie said as she glared at him through the bars.

“We don’t want him either,” Sasha muttered from where she was leaning against the wall by Carl’s side. Tyreese glared at Merle, to which the older man just smirked as an answer.

“No,” Daryl said glaring at everyone downstairs. They were not sending his asshole of a brother away again, not on his watch. “He’s got a point.”

“This is all you, you started this.” Maggie’s voice began getting higher, as her anger shone through. The brother’s eyes were on Merle though; there was something there that did seem like he regretted his actions, at least there was that.

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is.” It was Beth who finally spoke up. She started going downstairs towards her sister. “What’s important is what are we going to do about it.”

“I say that we leave...” Hershel was speaking once again. “We can’t just stay here, Axel is dead.”

Rick scoffed, turning his back on the older man and started to walk away.

“We can always come up with a plan, you know?” Connor said, gulping down when everyone’s eyes turn to him.

Carol frowned when she heard Murphy mutter something under his breath about some rope that she was unable to understand clearly.

Rick didn’t care though, he didn’t stop and they all saw as Hershel stood up as quickly as he could. “Get back here!”

The shout from Hershel made Rick stop, but not turn. “You are slipping Rick.” Their collective breath was taken as the oldest member of their group finally approached the main issue head on. “We all see it, we understand why.”

“Oh shit,” Murphy muttered, and both Carol and Daryl nudged him to stay quiet with their elbows.

“But now is not the time, you once said it was not a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I’ve put my family’s life in your hands, so get your head on clear and do something.”

Silence filled the room as they all watched Rick look at Hershel. The look the younger man was giving Hershel was filled with anger, and Tyreese took a small step towards the two men as they stood there. Rick took a deep breath, his eyes glaring at Hershel, before he turned on his heel, opened the door pushing Merle away and walking out of the cell block.

Everyone’s eyes followed him as he went. Things were going to get even worse before they got better, of that they were sure.

.-.-.-.-.-

“He came back for you.” Carol tried not to show how startled she was when Merle spoke from behind her back. Task had been given to everyone, and as usual she had been sent to prepare a meal for all of them.

She had forgotten that no one was willing to work with Merle; or no one trusted him enough to work with him. The only person who usually would have been willing was Daryl, but he had left as soon as the task were given; not wanting to talk to anyone that morning.

Carol pretended like Merle had not said a thing, as she continued to cook what would become their lunch later on.

Merle chuckled as he moved so he was leaning against the wall next to the stove Carol used for cooking, his eyes on her as she moved around. “I remember you, ya know,” she didn’t look up, still looking at what she was doing instead of who was just there, “such a mousy little thing you are.”

His words weren’t hurtful, but the memories they brought back for sure were. He was not wrong, she had been such scared little person a little less than a year ago; but that wasn’t the person she was now, but he didn’t know.

She continued to ignore him, tasting the concoction she had come up with and moving to get some more of the spices they had found at the prison cafeteria. “Are you just going to ignore, dear old Merle? We’re almost family for what I’ve seen.”

She was silent, trying not to revert back to the scared little woman she had been the last time she had been corralled by someone like Merle. She was proud of the glare she gave the man as he moved even closer into her personal space, hoping it conveyed just how much she did not like him.

“Are you fucking the three of them? Or just the Irish ones?” The surprise on her face could not have been as concealed as she thought since Merle let out a huge laugh. “So he  _ is  _ that big of a pussy he can’t even stick it into the one hole that actually wants it.”

She didn’t even know from where her bravery came, but she had had enough. “Let me make one thing clear, Merle.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but the silence of the cell block made it sound like she was yelling. “I should have been dead many times by now...” She looked up to meet his eyes, and he was startled to find them hard and strong instead of being fearful as he had expected her to be, “the reason I think I’m probably not, is because people underestimate me.”

She heard quiet steps make their way across the cell block, but she ignored them. She was doing this, now. “You ruin this for him? And I will slit your throat in your sleep. Don’t underestimate me, Merle.”

She pulled a bowl and served some of the broth she had made, pushing it into the hands of the now speechless man. “Enjoy your meal, after all you’re part of my family now.”

Without saying a word, she continued to serve plates, a little smirk on her face as she heard him walk away. She was not letting anyone else hurt her boys.  

.-.-.-.

“How come we get stuck doing this with the new guys?” Murphy whined at Connor as the two of them, together with Tyreese and Ben moved through the tombs trying to see if what they had tried as a preventive measure to keep more walkers from going in had actually worked.

“Because we know this place better than anyone else,” Connor said as they flashed their light towards a darkened corridor, sighing as they found it yet again walker free.

“How long were you here for?” Ben asked, as he looked around nervously. The boy wasn’t a bad lad, he was trying even if he had lost all his family in less than a couple of days. He was one of their own now, and they cared for their own.

“Couple of months before this whole shit happened,” Murphy said as they continued on their way to the back of the prison, “jail in Boston was not safe for us.”

“I liked Boston, it was nice city,” Tyreese muttered.

“Never went out of Georgia,” Ben muttered. “I was supposed to go to New York for my high school graduation.”

“Eugh.” Connor made a face as he mentioned the city, “not missing much, lad.”

Tyreese snickered. “I got to travel all around the US,” he said, grunting when he slammed his hammer into a lonely walker they found on their way. “I was a football player for a while.”

“For what team?” Murphy asked, the chitter chat keeping them entertained and calm up to a point as they made their way through the dark.

“Atlanta Falcons.”

“Ohhhh,” Murphy said, turning to look at the bigger man. “You played THAT football, sorry thought it was the real kind.”

“Asshole,” Tyreese muttered not really mad as he saw Ben smile for the first time since the day before. Those brother sure had a way about them.

.-.-.-.-.

Daryl needed time alone to think. That was why at the first chance he got he took one of the few tasks for only one person.. He was out scouting the offices for anything that could help them defend the place. In the end, they had sent Sasha with him, but he had gotten rid of her fast enough; both of them splitting the cleared wing to search on their own.

His head was a mess. He couldn’t make sense of what he was thinking, of what he was feeling, of what he wanted. He knew he had to talk to Merle, he was more than sure that his brother knew something about why he and the twins looked so much alike, but he just didn’t feel like doing that at that moment.

And there was also what he was feeling. The time they had spent together the night before, the four of them alone in the cell was almost perfect; and he didn’t know what to feel about that. It was as if the three of them had just known what he needed. To be alone but not, to have them there but at the same to give him space; to see them but at the same time letting him hide.

As much as he had imagined it, he had never thought he would have gotten the welcome he did. He had been convinced he would have been turned away, as he had thought they had initially done. Murphy’s hug, as surprising as it was, wasn’t as unwelcomed as he felt.

Connor and Carol’s welcome though. The moment he had realized he had almost lost her, that he could have just gone through his life without knowing she was gone; without having let her know how much she meant to him, the mere thought almost brought him to his knees.

Daryl grunted as he pulled an empty bookcase through the open doorway. Keeping in mind where he had found it so he could tell Carol and the twins were all the books were. They would surely appreciate that.

How he knew that they would? That was still something that shocked Daryl. He had people that talked to him, and not at him for once in his life. He had people that cared about him as a person, and not just as some means to an end. For Will it had always been someone to either use as a punching bag (physically or emotionally) when things didn’t work or as a source of income and food. For Merle, he had always been the person behind him cleaning up his messes and keeping him alive half of the time. For the rest of the group? He didn’t doubt they cared about him, but he was no more than a source of food and protection.

But when he had been pulled into the four way hug the night before? He couldn’t help but feel as his eyes filled with unshed tears because of the feeling of home that he got for once in his life.

Sasha yelled at him that it was time for a break, and without any words Daryl made his way towards their own cell block. He was hungry, food wasn’t exactly scarce since they found the prison but they had to start rationing it in case they ended up in a siege. Merle made good points from time to time.

He silently made his way through the inside of the prison, his steps barely echoing in the empty hallways. He could hear voices from somewhere down the tombs, shaking his head as he recognized them as the twins- at least they would know if there were any walkers around with the racket they were all doing.

“Are you fucking the three of them? Or just the Irish?” Daryl would recognize Merle’s voice anywhere, he had no idea who he was speaking with so he accelerated his pace to try and keep any fights from breaking. Rick would kick Merle out for sure if he did.

“So he is that big of a pussy he can’t even stick it into the one hole that actually wants it.” Daryl stopped in his tracks as he saw the picture in front of him once he finally reached their common area. His face went completely red seeing Merle standing almost face to face to Carol as she tried to finish her cooking. He noticed that neither of them had any idea he was there. So he waited.

Daryl strained his ears to try and catch whatever Carol was saying to his brother, stopping as he realized he had taken a couple of steps closer to them. “You ruin this for him?” Carol voice had raised just enough to allow him to hear what she was saying. “And I will slit your throat in your sleep. Don’t underestimate me, Merle.”

Daryl’s face was as red as a tomato as he heard her words. He was mortified by what Merle had said to her, but his heart was beating hard at the words she said to his brother. A little smirk was on his face as he saw his brother finally notice his presence before he moved to walk up to the cell he had shared with his family the night before. Who would have known that his woman would be the one to finally shut his brother up for once?

-.-.-.-

Carol heard the argument between Daryl and the others. She was still on kitchen duty, having  finished feeding them all and just cleaning when raised voices came from inside the cell block. She knew it wasn’t Merle for once, since the man had retreated to his ‘cell’ just moments after their small encounter having stolen one of her knifes and some duct tape.

She knew his steps by heart, and for those that knew them, they told a whole lot about his moods. She heard as he stomped his way up the stairs, probably to go hide and lick his wounds in private. He hadn’t eaten, none of her boys had, and she had saved just enough for each of them. She threw a look at where Merle was still deep in thought as he considered the best way to attach the knife to his stomp.  She served Daryl’s ration into a bowl and made her way back to their room.

The raised eyebrows and smirk she threw towards Merle seemed to have the opposite reaction she had expected from the older man, if the small smile that appeared on his face was anything to go by. Passing Hershel as the older man seemed to be making his way towards the kitchen, she silently walked up the stairs and made her way to their cell.

She found him just where she was expecting to. He was sitting down in her bed, his back against a post while he fiddled with one of his arrows. He looked deep in thought, a scowl in his face as he looked down at his hands.

“You should know better by now, Daryl Dixon.” Her voice was playful as she rested her back against the side of the door. She knew not to crowd him, just as well as she knew that he had never been as mean as he looked. “Keep your boots off my bed.”

Daryl frowned as if not understanding what she was saying, before looking at where his right boot was on and chuckled as he put his foot down. “Sorry, ma’am.”

Carol made a face at his words, and she couldn’t help but smile as he chuckled once again. She was glad she had his food in her hands, since the need to touch him was too great to ignore. She had thought she would never see him again, and yet there he was, sitting close enough to touch.

“I haven’t told you yet, but I hope you know, I’m really glad you came back.” Her words brought a small smirk on his face. He wouldn’t say, but she was the one he worried about the most. He had told Glenn he was sure she would understand, but he had been terrified she hadn’t.

She took his silence as an invitation, making her way towards him and sitting down on the same bucket she had done the night before. The two of them just stood there in silence, their eyes on each other’s until Daryl looked away blushing slightly.

“I brought you your food,” Carol said softly extending her arm to give him the plate she had served for him, smiling when he took it and started sipping at it without even waiting to see if she had brought him a spoon.

“Glenn told me what you said.” Daryl stopped sipping the broth she had made to look down at his legs again. Shame at what had happened filling his chest.

“He’s your brother,” he heard rustling as she moved before he saw her hand enter his field of vision, touching his hand softly. “But he’s no good for you, don’t let him bring you down.”

Daryl raised his eyes slowly, finding her a lot closer than he had expected. His blue eyes looked right into hers, and he felt like he was lost. “Just look how far you have come.” Her voice broke a little at the end, as a smile appeared on her face.

When she moved to kiss his forehead, he didn’t flinch. He closed his eyes and let her scent surround him. When he opened his eyes again, she was gone.

.-.-.-

“We need to talk.” Murphy was the first one to approach Merle. They had come back from their little trip to the deepest  entrails of the tombs to find Daryl kind of sulking in their room, while Carol took care of little Judith. The brothers had eaten, and then while Connor went and tried to get Daryl out of his funk, Murphy had taken the plunge.

“What do you want, lucky charms?”

Murphy scoffed. “Original,” He said with a deadpanned face. “Anyway, now that we got that out of the way, could you stop being a twat and just tell us what you know?”

Merle sneered at the younger man. Everything about him rubbed him the wrong way, from the way he spoke to the way he moved. Everything. “I ain’t telling you shit.”

“Are you really that big of a cunt? Or are you just selfish?”

“You don’t know what you are talking about, boy!” Merle was raising his voice, sneering at the younger MacManus as she stood up. They were both the same height, and Merle was sure this boy was no better than Daryl fighting one on one.

“I’m talking about the fact that you rather hide behind this...” He motioned to where Merle was standing, “than allow your only family some kind of happiness.” Murphy was moving forward, raising his voice with every step as he did.

“You don’t know anything.” They were chest to chest by then. Both men were screaming at each other, not noticing their surroundings.

When the screaming had started, both Connor and Daryl had immediately recognized their brother’s voices. Without saying anything, they both had ran out of the cell where they had been sitting in silence since Connor had entered a few minutes before. They passed a concerned looking Carol where she was bouncing a sleepy Judith to try and get her to sleep.

“I saw your face Dixon.” Murphy spit hit Merle in the face, making the older man sneer at him. “You weren’t THAT surprised to see there were people claiming to be Daryl’s family.”

Murphy had been prepared for it. Merle threw the first swing, Murphy moved to the side before launching himself to the older man. Shouting was heard around them as the two of them started beating the crap of each other, no one getting the upper hand as they fought inside the small cell that Merle had called his own.

Connor and Daryl stood in the open door of the cell, not knowing what to do as the two men fought in such close quarters. It wasn’t until Murphy cried out in pain from where Merle’s knife sliced his cheekbone, having been too close for anyone’s comfort of being something else.

Daryl was the first one to enter the fight. He threw himself at Merle, grunting  with a lot of effort he was able to put his older brother away from his identical twin.

“What the fuck, Merle!” Daryl yelled at his brother as he threw him against the chain fence surrounding his ‘room’ as he heaved. “You could have killed him!”

“Fucking leprechaun attacked me first!”

“No he didn’t you asshole! Are you really that stupid that you want to get kicked the fuck out?!” They had been lucky no one but them and Carol were in their cell block at that moment, otherwise Merle would have been kicked out faster than the speed of light.

“He’s a fucking motherfucker!”

“We share a fucking mother, you prick!” Murphy yelled from behind them, where Connor had made him sit down and Carol was already looking him over where he was bleeding.

“Is he saying the truth?!” Daryl said as he got into Merle’s personal space. His forehead touching his brother’s as Merle was still against the chain fence. “You do know more than you pretend, don’t ya? You have always done so.”

“Daryl,” Merle had seemed to have deflated as Daryl started getting in his face.

Carol couldn’t help but see how the oldest Dixon’s body language seemed to change at once. She was glad, the boys deserved to have some answers once and for all. She huffed as she moved to put Judith in her box, before going for the first aid kit to clean Murphy’s wound.

“Tell me!” Daryl yelled as he pushed on Merle’s chest, “Tell me!” he pushed again. Connor had moved towards the two brothers, trying to prevent a fight starting once again. “Tell me.” Daryl’s voice was broken, as he pushed at Merle’s chest one last time, without real strength.

“I...” Merle started saying, raising his one hand to try and touch Daryl’s shoulder. Daryl pulled away from Merle as if he had been burned. The pain in Merle’s face was obvious, and Connor couldn’t help but feel some pity for the man.

“I was too young.” Merle’s voice was soft, for once in his life. Daryl didn’t say anything, and neither would he make eye contact with anyone. Softly Connor put a hand on his bicep, pulling him slowly towards where Murphy was sitting, not resting until Daryl was sitting beside his brother.

“Daddy was always an asshole-” Merle was standing in the door of his cell, his eyes on his knife still stained with Murphy’s blood. “I must have been like nine, one day after daddy was taken by the police she just came into my room, told me to grab my backpack and we left.”

Carol felt like she was trespassing on something really personal, so with as much care as she could but as fast as possible, she started cleaning Murphy’s wound.

“We took a bus; I only remember it was a long ass trip. Mamma had a cousin in Boston, her only living relative who daddy didn’t know of, so she took us there.”

She was done cleaning Murphy’s wound; her hands were shaking as she taped some gauze over it to keep it covered. Her hand was still shaking when Daryl took it in his bigger one as she made to walk pass him, his touch was strong but gentle and she couldn’t help but stay.

“The next thing I know we’re living there, I was going to school and for once in my lifetime we were free of Daddy. You should have seen her, she was beautiful, she smiled.”

Daryl tried to clear his throat of the feeling he had in the back of it. His hand was still wrapped around Carol’s and he laid the side of his head against her arm where she was standing beside him. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the picture Merle was painting of their mother, and his heart hurt when he couldn’t.

“I didn’t realize she was pregnant until she got big, and I mean big.” Merle had been a snot filled nine-year-old while she was pregnant, he truly thought she was just fat. “There was a man, I don’t remember his name but I do remember he used to talk like you-” His eyes were on the twins then, “-he was a priest, and whenever he came meant I was getting candy, so I would leave them alone to speak. He stopped coming after you were born.”

“Sibeal,” Connor said softly, smiling sadly at Daryl when he looked at him. “Our pa’s brother.”

“Yeah, that must have been him alright.” Merle cleared his throat. “I was alone with mamma when she had to be taken to the hospital, Sibeal arrived later to stay with me. I’m not sure what happened next but I remember you were so small.” His words were meant for Daryl, but Daryl didn’t look at him.

“It wasn’t until years later, once I was in the army that I remembered the two of you.” He motioned with his chin to Murphy and Connor. “I must have seen you maybe once or twice, I just thought it was really funny how ya’ll had bracelets with numbers. It just said baby Dixon number 3.”

“That was you, by the way.” Merle’s eyes finally found Daryl’s as he said that. “You were the smallest one, needed to be in one of them boxes for some weeks.”

“I remember the priest taking two of the babies for christening, and never coming back.” Merle sighed, “I didn’t understand what was going on, but I guess I convinced myself it hadn’t happened or some shit like that.”

“Daddy found us a few weeks later, you were just out of the box. He came and took us back to him, apparently Mama's cousin was sick of us by then or some bullshit like that.”

“After that, things just got worse. I just thought I had dreamed the whole thing; you know? Nine months of being away from Daddy? That sure sounded like a dream back then.”

Silence followed as Merle finally finished his story.

“So Sibeal was the one who took us to our mother,” Connor said softly, his hand clasping Murphy on the shoulder. “He was the one who broke us apart?” There was the feeling of betrayal behind his words.

“But why wouldn’t they tell us?” Murphy’s voice sounded broken, and Connor, asking God for forgiveness, hated his parents and his uncle for a little bit. They had all known, and they had kept them apart. They had left Daryl behind, with that monster.

Merle laughed, shaking his head as he did so. “Hell if I know, he just left mamma and Declan here to his fucking mercy.”

“Declan,” Connor said softly, his eyes immediately on Daryl’s head where he was still leaning it against Carol’s arm. “Your name is Declan.”

“Pussy’s name, if you ask me.” Merle muttered as he saw the three men, who now knew were in fact triplets, looked at each other as if it was the first time.

“Connor Cronan,” Carol was the one that broke the silence, smiling softly with tears in her eyes as she looked at each of them. “Murphy Malachy,” her free hand moved to touch the top of Daryl’s head, running through his hair softly. “Daryl Declan.”

“We fucking match.”

.-.-.-.-.

The subject was not touched again for a while. The quiet moment the brothers and Carol had spent was broken barely minutes after as Rick entered the cell block followed by Tyreese and Glenn, giving out orders as he did so.

Daryl had jumped and scrambled to get away from any human contact, his shoulders tense as he moved and grabbed his crossbow. He didn’t make eye contact with anyone, it was like he had reverted to the man Carol had met back in the quarry almost a year ago.

They were hearing Rick’s plans when Carl came in running. The news of Andrea making her way into their camp brought conflicted emotions for Carol. She had been told of her friend’s survival, as well as where she was right then. She was on the Governor’s side, and that wasn’t something they could overlook.

Connor, Murphy and Carol ran upstairs to the bridge as Merle and Daryl ran behind Rick to the yard.

“Fucking wanker,” Murphy muttered as they saw Daryl take point while they made their way to the fence.

“Who’s the lass?” Connor said, his only gun pointing through the chains as Rick continued to yell and scream as Daryl risked his neck, once again, and opened the door.

Carol sighed as she saw Rick pull Andrea in and then push her into the fence. Daryl looked still on edge as he raised his crossbow to point at their friend, before putting it down immediately. He threw a quick look over his shoulder his eyes finding them standing there looking at him. The shame that filled his chest at the way they were treating their friend, the one  _ they  _ left behind made him defy Rick’s stare and not raise his bow against her again.

“A friend.” The smile on Carol's face was sad, as they watched Rick yell and man handle her friend, pushing her towards the door that led to cell block C. “Yet someone else that had to sacrifice something to save the weak mouse Merle knew from the quarry.”

The group including Andrea was back inside, so they put their guns away and started to make their way back inside. “I doubt you were ever a mouse,” Connor said as he pulled the door open for her to walk past, smirking when he tripped his brother in purpose as Murphy moved to follow. “Just one of those wolves in sheep's clothing, or a cougar to be more precise.”

Carol rolled her eyes, trying to keep a smile from her face, as both men snickered behind her. She walked faster as she heard Rick open the door. She had missed Andrea, so much. Their eyes met as soon as she climbed down the last step and she just stood there. This had been one of her regrets, Andrea having been left behind.

Andrea’s reaction made tears shine in her eyes, as the blond woman opened her arms as she walked down the stairs and embraced her. She had missed Andrea, she had missed the camaraderie they had had at the farm; she had missed her friend.

Everyone had moved inside as the two of them stood there, hugging. “After you saved my life, we all thought you were dead.” She hoped she could hear the regret in her voice. Both her and Daryl had wanted to go back, but Rick had said no. And they had done what Rick said back then.

Andrea just squeezed her harder for a second. Movement behind the two of them brought them back into the present and they broke away.

As Andrea looked at Hershel, Carol automatically moved to stand closer to Daryl. He was sitting on top of the table, his bow at his back but his eyes were on Carol. She gave him a small sad smile as she shifted closer to him, feeling her heart swell when he returned it with one of his beautiful little smiles.

“Look at this place,” Andrea said as she started looking around the prison. Her eyes moved from the people she knew to those she didn’t. Tyreese, Sasha and Ben were standing at the back, arms still at ready. Connor and Murphy shifted a little making her eyes go up to them, surprise clear in her face as she saw the amount of people they had.

“Where’s Shane?” She asked as she continued to look from face to face. The silence, as well as the way Rick tensed up was answer enough. “And Lori?” The grief after her name was mentioned was obvious in the group.

“She had a girl...” Carol felt as Daryl shifted slightly as if he could recognize her need for support at the mention of her friend, “she didn’t survive.”

“Neither did T-Dog.” Maggie was furious. Furious with the Governor for having made her feel like he did, furious with Merle for having been the cause of what had happened to get, furious with Andrea for being with that liar son of a bitch; and furious at herself for having been so weak.

“I’m so sorry.” Andrea’s voice broke as she said those words. Her eyes immediately looked for their youngest member, her heart breaking even more as she looked at Carl’s face. “Carl,” she said softly, taking a step towards him.

Carl took a step back, not caring about getting any pity and started to climb up the stairs. Andrea watched him go, as if trying to connect the picture she had of the freckled twelve-year-old to the hard faced thirteen-year-old young man that was  before her.

Murphy elbowed Connor, as Carl walked past the two of them on his way out. The oldest of the MacManus nodded to him as Murphy broke ranks and followed the teenager. Someone had to keep that boy in check.

The air was definitely warmer once Murphy pushed the door Carl had just slammed behind him open. He didn’t have to look for long, since the boy was standing in the middle of the bridge with his face plastered against the chain that surrounded them.

Murphy said nothing, moving to rest his back against the same place where Carl was, dropping low until he was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest.

“I hate the pity in their eyes,” the boy said softly.  He continued to look out at something only he could see. “And it’s worse once they realize what else happened.”

Murphy said nothing. There was nothing he really could say to the boy to try and make what had happened any less shitty.

“I hate them all sometimes...” Murphy did look up at him as he heard those words, “sometimes I feel like yelling and asking them why did it have to be my mom? Why?” For the first time since that day, Murphy heard Carl’s voice break.

“I don’t know lad,” Murphy said softly, as he pulled Carl to sit down beside him. He threw an arm over the boy’s shoulders and hugged him close. “I don’t understand either why the Almighty is putting this in the path for us, but we have nothing else but each other and him, so we have to try and pull through.”

Carl nodded, as he closed his eyes and laid his head on Murphy’s chest. Tears were falling down his face, and for once he didn’t feel the need to stop them. “I was so mean to her,” he sounded his age for once. He sounded like a little lost boy who had just lost his mother, and who had taken too many responsibilities upon his young shoulders.

“I’m sure that isn’t true.”

“I was! I was mad at her because I thought in a way it had been her fault that my dad killed Shane.” Murphy had no idea of who they were talking about, but there was one thing he knew. A mother’s love when it was true, was limitless.

“She loved you Carl,” Murphy said softly as he ran his hand up and down Carl’s upper arm. “That’s what mother’s do, no matter if they gave you birth or no… they love you. And I’m sure she knew you love her too.”

“Loved,” Carl said as he pushed back a little bit to rub his hand over his nose and cheeks, trying to wipe some of his tears and snot away. “She’s dead.”

“Connor and I lost out father a few years after finally meeting him,” Carl was still sniffing but his attention was on Murphy’s words. “There’s a passage in the bible, that brought me a lot of solace after that happened. It says ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ That was your mum’s great show of love: for your sister, and for you.”

“Love…” Murphy moved so he could look down at his young friend. “Love is like energy, it can’t be created or destroyed, it’s just transformed. So even if she’s not here anymore, you still love her because she’s always here …” Murphy finished touching Carl’s chest.

Murphy was ready when the boy launched again into his arms. He was really going to kick Rick’s ass one of these days. 

.-.-.-

“What a fucking day…” Connor said softly as he reached Carol and Daryl, after finally climbing down from the catwalk and back onto the main floor. “Is there anything else we missed today? Any other big fucking news?” He turned his attention to Carol, his blue eyes filled with mischief. “You’re not going to claim you’re pregnant with my kid, are you love?”

“So that was the annoying little thing that kept on poking me last night,” Carol answered as soon as Connor finished.

“Stop.” It was Daryl who muttered the words as both Carol and Connor noticed his ears starting to redden. The chuckles his reaction got from them made him frown and glare at them both. Carol could see Andrea side eying Connor as he came to stand between her and Daryl, her closeness with them being something weird to witness for her old friend; after all the Daryl she had known barely allowed people around him back in the farm.

“I take it that Rick isn’t really happy with the lass, is he?” Carol gave Connor a small smile before shrugging. There were not many things making Rick happy lately.

The three of them watched as Andrea walked over to Michonne slowly, as if approaching a wild animal, before the two women left towards the yard without saying anything to anyone.

“At least we’re not the ones with the most issues at the moment.”

Daryl couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head at his brother’s words. His brother, he hadn’t had time to really process what Merle had told them a little while ago. He had brothers, plural. He had more people other than Merle on his side.

Carol seemed to be able to read him better than anyone. She bumped her shoulder against him where they were now half sitting side by side at the table, and he gave her a small nod. He was not ready to speak, but this was alright. They were alright.

“Carol?” Beth’s sweet voice interrupted the peaceful silence that had befallen among the three of them. “Can you watch Judy for a little while?”

“Duty calls,” Carol said with a small smile as she stood up. As an automatic reflex she moved to kiss the side of Daryl’s head, before moving to kiss Connor’s cheek. She shifted quickly to go and get her charge completely missing the look on the two men’s faces as they watched her go.

“Sweet merciful Jesus…” Connor muttered as Daryl turned with him to watch her go.

.-.-.-.-

“What happened to you?” Andrea whispered as she watched Carol coo over the baby in her arms. Her friend had just told her that she should sleep with the Governor, before murdering him while his guard was down.

“I’m not the same person I was back then,” Carol said as she bounced Judith up and down in her arms, her thoughts on another little girl she had once held like that.

“But you’re telling me to straight up murder him!”

“I’m telling you that sometimes you have to do what you must, for the people you love.” She turned and started walking up and down the catwalk as she continued to bounce Judith. “There are people out there that deserve what happens to them, and he’s one of them.”

“I’m not an assassin.”

“I’m not asking you to be one, I’m asking you to do the right thing.”

“Since when did the right thing become killing people?”

“People who deserve it.” Judith was finally asleep once again, so Carol moved to put her back into her box. “I’m not asking you to kill an innocent man, I’m asking you to kill a man that had Glenn tortured, a man that almost raped Maggie; a man that had things worked out he would have killed Michonne, your friend.”

Andrea was flabbergasted.

“The man that tried to make Daryl kill his own brother.”

“What about Merle?”

“What about him?”

“He gets to walk around free? Without blame when he was his main henchman?” Andrea’s voice was rising, and Carol moved closer to her, motioning with her hand for her to lower her voice.

“He’s family. It’s forgiven, not forgotten.” Carol’s eyes looked towards the empty kitchen, to where Merle usually slept.

“Since when is he more part of this family than I am?” Andrea’s voice broke as she finished that sentence.

“Since he renounced working for that lunatic and decided that his brothers were more important than anything else.” Carol moved to gently take Andrea’s hand in hers. “Leave him, come back to us and we’ll be your family again.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Andrea whispered before Carol used their hands to pull her closer and embrace her.

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, I owe you everything,” Carol whispered as they continued to hug. “I’ve learned to be strong, it’s your time now.”

Andrea pulled back, nodding as she used the back of her right hand to wipe her tears away. A voice called for Carol from the outside, and Andrea knew it was time for her to leave. Andrea looked down to the sleeping baby in the box and sent a thought out to Lori, a silent promise to try and do right by their family.

The two women walked side by side as they went down the stairs, Andrea helping Carol keep her balance as she walked with Judith’s makeshift crib in her arms.  They stopped to put the sleeping baby in her father’s cell.

They were still silent as they walked past the tables, and opened the bars that would lead them to the outside gate.

“So what’s your deal with Daryl?” Andrea asked out of nowhere making Carol trip on her own feet and slam against the door she was about to open.

“There’s no deal going on with Daryl.”

“I bet you aren’t missing that vibrator as much as before, no? After all, if my eyes didn’t deceive me, there are two of them now?”

Their laughter was what made Connor, Murphy and Daryl turn to look at them as they walked out of the cellblock. The women noticed they were being watched- the looks on the men’s faces due to their outburst just seemed to make them laugh even harder.

The laughter died when Rick came out of the other cellblock and called for Andrea. With a last small smile, Carol said goodbye to her friend as her men came and stood by her. She watched as Rick and Andrea talked, accepting her rifle from Murphy as they started to get things together for her friend to leave and go back to the man that wanted them all dead.

There was a feeling in her chest she tried to ignore as she helped open the door for the car that would take Andrea back ‘home’. She just hoped that this wouldn’t be the last time she saw her friend, she hoped with all of her heart.

-.-.-.-.-.-.

The night was upon them, and nothing had happened.

All they could hope was that Andrea had gotten back to Woodbury safe, and all Carol could pray for was for her friend to follow her advice and end it all. How funny it was that she was praying to God for someone to kill someone else.

“Hey Love.” Carol looked up from where she was sitting down, with her back against the cold wall, to Connor as he moved to sit down beside her. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about what the boys had learnt that morning, with Andrea coming and then everyone continuing with the reinforcement of the prison.

Carol moved to give him space over the sheet she was sitting on, allowing him to put his arm around her shoulders and hug her close to him. Her eyes got lost in the lone lights shining in front of them. Everyone had been silent after Andrea’s departure, even Merle. The weight of what they would be facing on everyone’s minds.

She was startled when Murphy moved to her other side. Chuckling slightly when the younger MacManus didn’t care about dirt or anything as he laid down on the floor and put his head in her lap. The sound he made when she started running her hand through his hair caused something in her heart to swell, and she closed her eyes letting the peace of being between people that would never hurt her lull her into a state of peace.

Daryl watched with barely contained longing as his brothers, his  _ brothers _ , moved and sat with Carol. The easiness with how they approached her, the silent acceptance, the way they gave and asked for touch was something he would never understand.

Beth started to sing, and he continued to watch them, standing as an outsider. Rick approached him and Hershel, with little Judith in his arms.

“Some reunion, huh?” Daryl said as he finally took his eyes away from his brothers, to look at his friend.

“She’s in a jam,” Rick said as he looked down.

“We all are.” The bitterness in Hershel’s words didn’t go unnoticed to Daryl, who couldn’t help but feel weird about them coming out of the older man’s mouth. “Andrea is persuasive, but that man is armed to the teeth and all he wants is to destroy us.”

“So what do you want to do?” Daryl asked as he looked quickly to where his family was sitting before returning his eyes to Rick. He needed to protect them, to protect her.

“We match him; I’m going on a run.”

Daryl nodded, “we’ll go tomorrow.”

“You stay, keep an eye on your brother.” Daryl turned to look at Merle over his shoulder where Rick had looked over. “If he causes any trouble, it’s on you.” He knew Rick didn’t think so, but he was sure Merle wouldn’t try anything. Especially after their discovery earlier that day. But he didn’t want them to know, not yet. This was one thing he was not yet willing to share with anyone but them.

“I’ll take Michonne, and Carl. He’s ready.” Daryl tried not to react at that; he knew the boy wasn’t really. He needed support, not responsibility. But who was he to say anything to the boy’s father?

“You’re in charge.”

Rick went silent after that, as they all continue to watch as Beth sang for them all. Judith started fussing once again, making both Hershel and Rick move their attention to the little girl.

Silently Daryl moved. No one paid him any mind, after all why would they?

Merle couldn’t take his eyes away from him as he moved to Connor’s free side and sat by him.

Beth continued to sing. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of things happened in this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it, and if you want to talk, prompt or even just meme me you can find me at [geektaire.tumblr.com](http://geektaire.tumblr.com).
> 
> Thanks a lot for reading!


	11. Clear

Chapter XI

Clear

Daryl found himself awaking on his own in the top bunk of the same cell he had slept in the night before. His natural clock told him it was early enough that he could take a couple of minutes to get his bearings together; the silence of the cellblock only broken by the soft snores he knew came from Carol. 

Daryl sighed as he thought of his best friend. He closed his eyes as he put his hands together on top of his stomach while trying to recreate the feeling he got the night before as he sat there with his family. No one had said anything as he had sat by Connor; close but not too close. He was keeping his space, and his hands to himself, because as much as he wanted to reach over and touch them, he was not that brave. He had jumped startled when he felt Carol’s small hand grab one of his across Connor’s lap. They had not made eye contact, but in that moment he had felt closer to them that he had ever felt with anyone before. 

With a sigh, Daryl opened his eyes and got mentally ready for the day ahead of him. With a grunt he sat up, before silently getting off the top bunk. He frowned when he noticed the empty mattress pushed against the wall in front of the bunks. He couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head in amazement when he finally looked at the lower bunk to find both MacManus’ and Carol asleep in the small bed like sardines. If it wasn’t because he could hear Carol’s snores, he wouldn’t have been convinced they would have been able to sleep that way… it looked uncomfortable as hell. 

He was still smiling slightly as he made his way downstairs after putting on his boots. He threw a look at where Merle was sleeping, stopping in his tracks as he saw his brother; no, his  _ oldest _ brother, already up and looking at him. His eyes showing more emotion than he had ever seen in the man before in his adult life. 

“Morning little brother,” Merle said too softly to Daryl’s liking. Merle wasn’t someone who was sweet and quiet. Merle was an asshole, he was loud and obnoxious; someone Daryl knew would cause him problems but at the same time he would never stop loving. 

“Morning asshole,” Daryl muttered as he made his way to heat the water to drink some of the coffee he had found in one of the offices he had looked into the day before. Both Dixon brothers stayed quiet as they waited for the water to get hot enough to boil an egg. As Daryl poured them both some hot coffee, he couldn’t help but think of the many mornings they had done the same thing before. It usually was with him just getting up to go to work, as Merle arrived from his latest venture. 

“Still can’t make coffee worth shit, little brother.” 

Daryl shook his head as he took a sip of his own coffee as the two men sat across each other. They were going to be alright. He was sure of that. 

.-.-.-

It wasn’t like the prison to be bustling with energy, but the absence of three of their members was noticeable. 

Murphy had taken Carl aside once Rick said he was going to take him on the run. Rick was clearly not happy with the relationship forming between the former inmate and his son, but at the look his right hand man gave him, he kept his mouth shut. 

“Be safe, deputy.” Carl nodded as Murphy put his hands over his shoulders, pushing his hat up a little to be able to look at his eyes. “Don’t take stupid risks, be smart.”

Daryl kept his eyes on Rick as the other man saw his brother embrace his son. He would have to talk to Murphy about what was going on with the boy, before something bad happened. He knew Murphy was just doing what Rick should have done.  The boy needed someone to be there for him; to put him first. But in the end, Murphy was a stranger to the man in charge, and that would take a long time  to change. 

They all watched as the green car became smaller and smaller, before everyone just moved back to continue working in whatever they were supposed to be working on. Merle was sent to keep watch, a rifle at his back much to the chagrin of Glenn who glared at Daryl all throughout that talk. In the end, Daryl was in charge, and Daryl knew his brother better than anyone. 

With Merle on watch and away from trouble, work was soon divided and people went off to do their tasks. It wasn’t really that he had meant it to go that way, but he had ended up with his brothers as they continued with their work in the tombs. If they were staying they needed to make the living conditions acceptable for human beings. 

Carol had sent them on their way with soft touches and small smiles, and Daryl couldn’t remember the last time he had felt like he did right then. It wasn’t that all his troubles had gone away, the constant state of internal panic he had always lived with was still there, keeping him on his toes with the looming thought of the Governor coming back and taking everything he held dear to him away… but it felt different somehow. 

The triplets moved consistently through the lower levels of the prison, with Connor and Murphy babbling away as they teased each other while at the same time trying to make Daryl feel part of it somehow. Daryl at the same time just stayed silent, snorting once in awhile as one of their antics was able to extract a laugh from the more stoic man. 

“We should try and come up with a contingency plan,” Connor said as the three of the stood facing the temporary barricade the group had built the day before to try and keep the walkers from flooding the prison from the open back of the building. “Try and booby trap this place or something.”

Daryl raised his eyebrows as he looked at Connor, while Murphy snickered and pushed Connor in the back. “Do you need some kind of rope for that?”

“Shut up,” Connor answered as he turned back to Connor and pushed him back, more strongly than the kind of playful shove his brother had given him before. “Tell me one time when one of my plans didn’t work out? They were brilliant.”

“Fucking lucky, that’s what we were.” 

Daryl tried to follow what the two men were talking about, a frown in his face. There was so much he didn’t know about the people his siblings were, and the worst part was that he wanted to know every single thing about them. 

“What do you have in mind?” Daryl’s deep voice made the Irishmen stop bickering for a moment and returned their attention to the matter at hand. 

“Something that we can trigger so we can let the walkers out at will.” Connor’s eyes were on the walls and doors that separated them from where they knew the walkers were. “It could be helpful if we mapped the hallways and have everyone know where to go if the need arises.”

“That’s actually not a bad idea.” Connor glared at Daryl as the younger man looked surprised.

“Fuck you, I know shit.” Murphy snorted, trying to keep his laugh quiet as the moans from the walkers were getting louder and louder from the other side of the barricade. 

“He isn’t that bad at coming up with shit,” Murphy said as three of them started to retreat once they made sure the barricade would hold. “His plans sound stupid, and he has seen way too many movies for his own fucking good, but they tend to work alright.”

Daryl nodded as they started on their way to the laundry room to go and pick up some of the things Carol had requested from them. 

“For the most part.” The indignation on Connor’s reaction made Daryl shake his head and chuckle a little. These two men where his family now, he would definitely need to get used to them. 

.-.-.-.

Carol had woken up in the middle of a tangle of legs and arms, and if she was honest she never wanted to wake up anywhere else. It was too fast, she had to admit that to herself, but it just felt right. The three men that slept with her in her cell had a special part of her heart; each their own small special part, and she had no idea what it truly meant. 

She had kissed Murphy. It had happened a little over 48 hours before, but as she smiled and touched her lips with her free hand, she could still remember how soft his lips had felt on hers. 

Carol sighed as she pulled her hand away from her mouth and tried to return to her task at hand. Everyone had important things to do that had something to do with the protection of their home, meanwhile she had taken over every single homely task there was to do. She was separating the dirty clothes by type as Beth took care of baby Judith. 

That was her role in their little family, she was the one that took care of them, it had been since after the farm. It had been a given, that she would be the one to take care of the domestic tasks of their little family. No one had asked her, they had all just assumed she would be happy with it… and she was, for the most part. Sometimes she  felt like they took her for granted, but lately it had been both Connor and Murphy who had made her feel appreciated once again.  Well, the boys and Daryl.

Daryl, she sighed as she thought of him. He was such a complicated man, and she loved him dearly for it. He was her best friend, but he was much more than that too. He was her confidant, the person she trusted the most; he was her everything, up until the two MacManus had wormed their way into her heart. 

Her feelings confused her- she truly had no idea what she was feeling for those three men in her life. She knew what she felt for Glenn, a mix between fraternal and motherly love, she knew what she felt for Rick… half fear and half respect most of the time; what she felt for Carl was a no brainer, the boy was her little boy in all but in blood… but what she felt for the now known triplets was just a mess. 

Carol chuckled as she threw Daryl’s spare pants into the pile that she needed to work on. That man went through knee patches faster than Judith went through bottles. 

It wasn’t like what she was feeling for the twins made her feelings for Daryl any less. She still wanted to be around him at all times, and she felt her heart swell a size like the Grinch’s whenever she got him to crack one of those elusive smiles of his… but she wanted the twins to be around them at the same time. 

There was such an easy rapport with the twins. It had been like they had just clicked. All four of them. It was like they had always been there, like the part of her heart that belonged to them had always been there and was just waiting for them to arrive and claim it. Touching them felt like a second nature, and if she was honest there was no better feeling than that. Except touching Daryl; touching Daryl was the only thing that compared to being in either Connor or Murphy’s arms. 

The sound of the door by the other side of the common room made her look up from where she was lost in thought, a smile appearing on her face as she saw Connor opening the door to allow Daryl and Murphy walk by first. The three men were carrying the things she had requested from them, and she couldn’t help but smile even wider as she stood up and made her way to them. 

“You found it?” The look in Carol’s face made the three men smile in varying degree each. She moved closer to examine their loot, and the three men watched elated as she went from one to the other, her grin still in place. 

“Everything you wrote in that list of yours, love.” Daryl watched as Carol made her way to Murphy as the middle brother spoke and threw her arms around his neck in a hug. 

“If I had known bringing stuff to do the laundry would get us a welcoming like that, I would have gone look for it a lot sooner,” Connor said, laughter in his voice as he put down what he was carrying and opening his arms to grab Carol in a hug as she moved from Murphy. 

“Are you kidding me?” Carol allowed him to pull her close, looking up at his eyes. “People are going to smell clean for the first time in forever, I could kiss you all for doing this.”

She had barely finished her words when Connor had pulled her close and kissed her softly on the lips. Her eyes were huge as she looked at his laughing ones. “Well, the only one that hasn’t been kissed yet is Declan over there.”

“Shut up,” Carol said softly as she laughed and pushed him away. There was a red tint in her cheeks, as she bit her lip while she looked at him from under her eyelashes. 

Daryl couldn’t help but think she looked beautiful. It was the first time he saw her flustered for once, her being the one blushing madly instead of him for a change and he loved it. 

“What? I’m just saying that we’re triplets and we all deserve the same treatment; don’t you think it would be fair love?” Daryl didn’t really realize what Connor was saying, as his eyes were still on the bashful looking Carol. 

“He isn’t a rascal, unlike you two.”

“How dare you sweet Madame, saying such things about me and my dear old brother.” Murphy was laughing as Connor continued with his ruse, while not letting go of their woman. “We are true gentlemen.”

“Gentleman my ass.” It was those words what finally broke the oldest MacManus, making him laugh so hard he finally let go of Carol as he tried to catch his breath. 

Daryl’s eyes hadn’t left her as she joked with his brothers. He looked down as she turned and caught him looking, starting to blush as she made her way to him. 

“Thank you,” her voice was soft and only for him as she stood in her tiptoes and kissed his cheek softly. He blushed, ducked his head, bit his lip and nodded. He was feeling too many things, and he wasn’t sure if he was delighted or terrified by them.

-.-.-.-.-

“Merle, stop being disgusting,” Carol’s voice startled the older man as he was watching Sasha work at the other end of the yard from where he was sitting down on top of the watchtower. “You’re supposed to be on watch.”

“Don’t worry mouse, nothing will get past me.” He looked up at where she was standing a few feet behind him, wincing slightly when the sun hit him directly in his eyes. He squinted even more as he saw her shadow move, before something was being pushed into his hands. 

“Your share of the rations of the day.” There was something less hard in her voice compared to how she had spoken to him the day before. Merle took the plate she was offering, pointing to the place beside where he was sitting to her in a silent invitation to join him. 

With a sigh Carol sat down beside Merle, letting her eyes roam the outside of the prison as the older man ate. “I was not lying when I said he was returning because of you.” Merle’s deep southern accent startled her as she realized that the man was finally sharing his thoughts. 

“He was coming back because of all of us,” her voice was steady as she said it, although she could feel her hands shaking slightly where she had them in her lap. 

“Nah.” Carol couldn’t help but compare his voice to his brothers, so different in so many ways. “He came back because of you and those other two.” His inability to call his new found half siblings by their names didn’t go unnoticed by Carol.

“The other ones? They don’t really care about my baby brother…” Carol could feel Merle’s eyes on her, and she refused to give in this time. Her blue eyes turned to meet his and she maintained eye contact as he finished his thought. “But we both know how sweet he really is, and we’re the only ones willing to do the unimaginable to keep him safe.”

She had no words to answer him with. It was true after all. She was one of the few people in that prison other than his brothers who probably knew how deep Daryl felt things, and it was true that she would do whatever it took to keep that sweetness in him unharmed… even if it was having to call a truce with his asshole older brother. 

-.-.-.-.-

It was close to nightfall when Merle’s whistle made everyone start pouring out of the prison and to the inner yard. They were back. 

Carol wiped her hands of the soap suds on one of the dry towels the boys had brought her from the prison laundry room, before following everyone outside to see if the run had been successful. She stayed back and watched everyone gather around Rick, Michonne and Carl as they got out of the car. 

Carl looked happy, but also unsettled and Carol couldn’t help but throw a look at Murphy. He was already watching the teenager, as if calculating what his next step would have to be. Carol wondered how blind Rick truly was to not see what was happening, or barely being kept from happening just because Murphy was actually paying attention to the kid. 

“We were able to get enough things for now,” Rick said as he opened the trunk of the small car to show how it was filled to the brim of ammo and weapons. “We can sleep a little better tonight.”

“Daryl came up with a plan.” Glenn was the first one to start on what they had done all day, Daryl seemed like was ready to intervene not willing to take another’s credit for his but a shake of Connor’s head made him keep quiet. “We have something in case we need to defend this place.”

Rick seemed to brighten up, clasping a hand on the archer’s shoulder. He didn’t seem to notice how not only Daryl had tensed up at the motion, but both the MacManus and the oldest Dixon hadn’t seemed to like it either. “Good, good.”

Everyone gathered around to start unloading the small vehicle, Carol smiling at the excitement Carl showed when he presented her with the crib him and Michonne had been able to get for his little sister. 

The night settled, and so did everyone in the prison. It was decided that the turns on watch were to be reinstated with Tyreese and Sasha being on the first turn, to be followed by Maggie and Glenn until dawn. 

“Did you take care of yourself, deputy?” Murphy asked Carl, as he saw the young boy sitting by himself in his cell after everything had been settled and done. Murphy groaned as he saw Carl make a face, moving inside the cell pushing the boy’s feet over so he could sit at the end of the bed. 

“What happened?” The two of them were quiet for a few seconds after Murphy asked his question, Carl looking down at a parenting book he had taken from the baby store that he was trying to read. 

“I wanted Judith to have something of mom,” Carl’s voice was small and innocent, and Murphy couldn’t help but feel for the boy. He was having to grow too fast, and as tough as he tried to appear to be sometimes… he was still just a thirteen-year-old boy. 

Carl moved to the bucket he was using as a side table, picked up a photo frame from it and showed it to Murphy. The Irishman couldn’t help but smile as he saw the happy family in it, the husband barely recognizable as the Rick Grimes that he knew. 

“Michonne saved my ass,” Carl said softly, as he accepted the frame back from Murphy. The sad smile that appeared on his face as he traced his mother’s smile with his fingers broke Murphy’s heart a tiny bit. 

“She definitely looks the type.”

“I shot a man,” Carl’s confession came as a shock to Murphy. The words were filled with regret though, which helped ease something inside of him. 

“Did you kill him?”

“No,” Carl looked down, letting his hat cover his face from his friend. “He was wearing a vest.”

“So that means, you would have killed him if he wasn’t?” 

The shaky nod he got as an answer was all Murphy needed. Without saying anything else he moved closer to the boy and pulled him into his arms. “But you didn’t lad,” He whispered to the boy’s ears only.

“He was shooting at us,” Carl’s voice was breaking and Murphy could feel him shaking in his arms, “my dad told me to run to the car, but I can’t lose him too Murph, I can’t let Judith be an orphan!” He was crying in earnest as he said those words, and Murphy couldn’t do anything else but hug him close and rock him side to side. 

“Listen to me deputy...” Murphy moved back a little so he could look down at the boy’s eyes. “I’m not going to lie and tell you there won’t come a time when you have to do whatever you have to, to save those you love…” he moved one of his hands to wipe some of the tears from the boy’s cheek, “all I will tell you is that taking a man’s life isn’t an easy thing, but when it’s done to save someone’s life? If they deserve it? That doesn’t make you the bad guy.”

“But that’s something you have to make sure, that every bullet you shoot to kill is because they deserve it, only those who deserve it, do you hear me?”

Carl only nodded and burrowed himself back into Murphy’s arms. Murphy just continued to hold him as he looked outside his cell, expecting to see Rick Grimes walk into it and relieve him at any moment. A part of him hating the man when the boy in his arms continued to cry without his father ever appearing to check on him.

-.-.-.-.-

Daryl said a short goodnight to his brother before making his way back to his cell. There was a thing the Dixon brothers did very well, and that was avoiding emotional talks. They were back at where they had always been. Daryl knew Merle cared for him, in his own Merle way, and that was enough. At least for now. 

He stopped in his tracks as he finally made his way inside the cell. The only person there was Carol, who was sitting in the bed she had claimed for her own, wearing what he had learnt were her night clothes reading under the light of a single candle she kept in the small side table she had scavenged from God knows where. 

“The light is going to hurt your eyes.” Carol looked up as Daryl’s rough voice made its way through the cell and to her ears. The smile she gave him in return made him blush slightly as he finally entered their shared accommodations. 

“I know, but I need something to get my mind to shut down.” She showed him the cover of the book, and he nodded after pretending to recognize the title. 

“You ok?” she asked him, her eyes following his form as he sat down on their unofficial stool to take off his boots. 

“Yeah,” he answered softly as he continued on his task. He didn’t dare to look up at her, feeling not for the first time lacking when it came to her. He felt so much, all the time, but he just couldn’t do anything about it; or say anything about it. 

Their quiet moment was broken when first Connor and then Murphy entered the cell, their usual racket behind them. Daryl sighed as he looked at his brothers, they were sometimes everything he thought he could be… other times they were too much. 

“Are you going to beg us to crawl into your bed once again, love?” Daryl blushed as he looked up to see Connor had started taking off his shirt without a care in the world. Daryl tried not to stare to the tattoo taking over all of Connor’s back, but instead just blushed when Murphy caught him looking. 

“You were the ones who just climbed on!”

“Love…” It was Murphy the one that spoke this time, “you were moving so much, someone was going to start thinking we were shagging in here or something.”

Murphy yelped when Connor hit him in the back of his head “Why would you say something like that to a lady? Really? I thought I had taught you better than this?”

“You didn’t taught me a thing,” Murphy muttered as he ran his hand over the back of his head, glaring at his older brother. The moment Connor turned to lean down into Carol’s space, Murphy used the opportunity to trip him, laughing as he fell into the small space left between where Daryl was sitting and Carol’s bunk. 

Murphy was still laughing as he leaped over where Connor was lying, to crawl into the space between Carol and the wall, snuggling into her back as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “If you’re fast enough Decks, I think you can still claim the other side…”

Carol looked at Daryl from where she was being snuggled into, her blue eyes looking innocent as she bat her eyelashes at him. From behind her, Murphy was looking at him a smirk in his face. 

“I-”

“Time’s up!” Connor announced as he interrupted Daryl and jumped from the floor to cram himself into the really not made for even two people cot.

Daryl just blushed even more as he quickly climbed up to his own bed, trying to not think about the fact that he might have started to seriously consider Murphy’s offer as he closed his eyes and lulled himself to sleep at the sound of his brother’s muttered prayers. There would be another chance, he hoped. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as many things happening as in the last one, but well... they need a little time off after all those emotions. 
> 
> As usual I'm always up for a chat at [Geektaire](http://geektaire.tumblr.com) ... drop a comment, an ask, a prompt or just come and talk about this nerds with me. :)


	12. Arrow on the doorpost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I was trash and I sent it to my beta midday Monday... she tried to make it work, but it was too much. So only a little part of it has been edited, but I needed to post it today so here you have it... full of all my own mistakes. Enjoy. 
> 
> I also want to thank everyone who has been reading, but even more to those that have been leaving me comments and kudos. You guys have no idea how much this means to me, if you can see my history I'm not one to write really long fics, and if I start... I don't tend to finish them. we're three chapters away from finishing phase one of this monster, and I'm just so in love with this four nerds and with the response that I've been getting from you guys; that hopefully this means I'll be able to go for season 4 rewrite as well...

Chapter XII

Arrow on the doorpost

Life under the threat of the Governor became their new normal. The guns were catalogued and counted again and again; and other than a few misunderstandings between the more vocal members of their group, life went on. 

“Are we going to truly wait until he comes for us? We’re going to wait here like a bunch of pussies for him to come and kill every single one of us?” Carol sighed as she heard, for the second day in a row, Merle’s loud mouth argue against Rick and his plan of waiting for the Governor’s next move. 

“Shut up, Merle!” Her head throbbed as she heard once more Daryl telling his brother to shut up. Tempers were flaring, and the longer they spent without being able to get out, as well as the nerves of expecting at any moment something to happen was causing everyone to be even more touchy. 

“He’s not wrong,” Murphy was the next one to speak up, and Carol was surprised at him taking Merle’s side. The wound in his cheek was closing, and he was lucky enough it had been one of those wounds that bled a lot but wasn’t really deep… it would still definitely scar; since then the two men had not agreed on anything, keeping away from each other’s presence as much as you could in an enclosed space and when you were actual family. “He has all the advantage; we should be doing something.”

“And we are…” Hershel’s voice made Carol smile, as she moved to continue cooking what was going to be their meal for the day. “We are preparing the prison for a future attack, we have a contingency plan, we’re doing something.”

“That shit ain’t gonna save us from that son of a bitch.” Merle spit to the floor as he paused. “He’s a nasty motherfucker.”

Hershel sighed at the older man’s language. 

“We can't just go to Woodbury again, it worked once it won’t work again.” It was Rick this time who spoke up, and he was right. They had barely made it out the last time; luck and the element of surprise their only allies. And still, they had lost Oscar. 

“We can try and lure him out,” Connor spoke from where he was sitting close to Carol who was standing next to the stove. “We can try to get him into a place where we can set up some kind of trap, or some shit like that.”

“And how will we do that if he has people watching over us twenty-four seven?” Rick’s voice sounded more tired than anything else. “I understand what you are trying to say, I get it…” he looked up making eye contact with both MacManus and the oldest Dixon, “but it’s just not practical right now.”

“You were the one that caught on him spying on us,” Glenn’s voice was still full of contempt as he addressed Merle, “so you know that anything other than staying inside here would be passed onto him.”

“Motherfucker,” Merle muttered as he stormed out of the kitchen, off to relieve some tension somewhere else. 

“We should continue with the plans we have to defend the prison.” Carol drowned out whatever Rick continued to say, choosing to use a few moments to look over at her boys. Daryl was the one that looked the most anxious, the idea of not being able to go outside as he pleased was taking a toll on him; not that Murphy was taking it well either. 

She tried to focus on the food, the only thing that could keep her from freaking out as well. It wasn’t like the place was really small, so her claustrophobia wasn’t an issue. But while she was concerned over every member of her family, her boys took priority. And out of the three of them, Daryl was the one she was concerned with the most. 

He was going through so much, and he kept it all inside. Yes, he was allowing the three of them to get closer, but as close as they had become it was still at arm’s length. Her heart hurt whenever she caught the longing looks he would send his brothers; if the man thought he had a good poker face, that was a lie. To her, he wore his heart on his sleeve, and sometimes she just wanted to grab him and just smother him with affection. But she knew him, and she knew that would send him running to the hills faster than anything else.

“You are awfully quiet this morning.” Carol yelped as two strong arms surrounded her waist, hugging her from behind. Her reaction made Connor chuckle against where he had hidden his face against her neck, and Carol realized that everyone had apparently left to do their tasks for the day. 

“I was just thinking.” She sighed as she let him take some of her weight. It was so easy with him and Murphy, that it sometimes scared her. They had met barely two weeks ago, and now these two were closer to her physically than anyone else had been probably since the early days of her marriage to Ed, before the ugliness started. 

“I’ve been told that’s sometimes dangerous.” Connor smiled when he heard her chuckle at his words. Every single smile or laugh they were able to drag out of her felt like an accomplishment. He stayed where he was, as she silently continued to cook. Sometimes words were not necessary. 

“I have been told that it’s not something you do often”

“Slander, you can’t trust anything that Murphy says.”

The vibration of her chuckles transferred to his chest, and Connor couldn’t help but close his eyes and enjoy it for a moment. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt whatever he was feeling whenever Carol was present. He wasn’t sure he had ever felt something like that. In the short time that they had known each other, she had become so important to him, probably only after Murphy. Daryl was still keeping everyone at arm’s length, but every day he joined them to sleep in the same cell was a win; and he felt that deep in his heart. 

“I’m worried about Daryl.” She finally said after another silent moment, dropping her cooking utensils and turning off the stove, before turning in his arms and putting hers around his. 

“We are too,” Connor said softly as he dropped his forehead to rest against hers. Closing his eyes as he did. 

“He wants to get closer to you two, but he doesn’t know how.” Her voice was soft, and he could feel her breath in his lips. He wanted to kiss her, so bad. “You have to be patient with him.”

“It’s not just us he wants to get closer to, love.” Connor used her silence to steal a peck on her lips, grinning at the surprised noise she let out. 

He was pulling back when she grabbed him by the back of the neck, and slammed her lips into his. It was a lot longer, passionate, and with more tongue than whatever they had shared before… and Connor wasn’t one to be bothered by it. Carol was the one to pull back first, her cheeks bright red. 

“Well…” Connor pecked her on the lips once again, “I was not expecting that.”

“Good, because I have no idea what that was,” Carol said as she pulled back and away from him. “Go get everyone else, food is ready.” 

“As you wish, love,” he said as he winked at her. Carol couldn’t help but blush even more as she went to get the plates. Those MacManus were definitely something else.

-..-.-.-.-.-.

The messenger had made himself known later that day. He had arrived in a noisy car, making his way to the inner gate waving a white flag. Daryl had to keep Merle from shooting him, trying to keep the peace for a little while longer. 

The messenger had said that the Governor wanted to talk, and he wanted to negotiate some kind of peace treaty. He had asked for a meeting alone with Rick, the next day at the disclosed location. Two men from each side, plus Andrea, were supposed to come with them. One, was supposed to be as a guardian of sorts; the other one to help in the negotiations. 

Rick had allowed the man to leave unharmed, much to Merle’s dismay.

“I am going to that meeting,” Rick told them all that evening. Night had fallen upon them once again, everyone was weary and tired, and it had been decided that they could rest the watch for once. 

“Rick-“ Glenn started to say.

“I’m going, that’s final.” Rick’s voice was hard, and Glenn kept quiet looking down. He wanted blood, but he knew when to shut the hell up.

“He’s not going to negotiate peace,” Merle said, not caring when everyone’s eyes were on him. “I know that man, Grimes, and he’s out for blood… mine, the samurai over there, hell even yours.”

“You don’t know that.” Rick’s eyes were on Merle, “Andrea talked to him.”

“He’s not gonna change just because he got some pussy.” Merle laughed mockingly as he shook his head. “He’s a fucking psycho, he’s not going to rest until he has every single one of us killed.”

“We have to try!” Rick was yelling by then, his hands shaking slightly as he slammed a fist into the table in front of him. 

“I’ll go with you.” Daryl did back down once he noticed everyone’s eyes turning to look at him. His eyes were down, knowing that his brothers were looking at him directly. “I’ll be your guard.”

“And I’ll go as your second,” Hershel said immediately after, not leaving time for anyone else to say anything. 

“But Daddy,” Beth said softly from where she was standing next to her father holding baby Judith.

“It’s alright Beth.” Hershel smiled at his youngest, “but I need to do this, I can be of help for once.”

“You are very helpful, Hershel,” Carol spoke from where she was standing between Murphy and Daryl, returning the smile the older man had given her. 

“If that’s settled, we leave at first light,” Rick said as he looked at the people around him, at his family. They had more manpower than they had a few weeks ago, but it was still not enough to stand up in a proper fight with the Governor and his community. He just hoped these negotiations worked, he wasn’t sure what they could do if they didn’t. 

Everyone started scattering. Merle threw his brothers a nod before he walked to sleep at the watch tower. Rick had said there was no need for someone to stay on watch that night, but the older man had refused to listen to him. He had more to lose now, three brothers and their mouse, and he was not going to take any risks. 

Carol watched as Merle left, slamming the door behind him. The oldest Dixon was such a mystery to her. He hadn’t approached her since two days before, but it had seemed she had been able to get the point across. He had been as well behaved as he could, for Merle at least. He had cause some minor chaos but overall had kept to himself, and to the watchtower. 

With a sigh she moved to finish cleaning the common area. Rick was taking care of his daughter for the night, and she was free as soon as she finished there. Her three boys had disappeared as soon as everyone started to go back into their own things, and she just hoped they wouldn’t get into trouble. 

She knew specially Connor would not be happy about Daryl’s decision of volunteering for tomorrow’s meeting. She sighed as she wiped her hands dry with one of the ‘clean’ rags she had been using to cook, throwing it over a table as she made her way into their cell. 

As she expected, she entered the cell to find Connor and Daryl glaring at each other, as Murphy sat in her bed looking from one brother to the other. 

“What is going on?” She asked as she pushed past Connor to where her clothes were stashed, trying to avoid touching Daryl where he was standing next to her. He was tighter than a spring and she knew one wrong touch could set him off.

“Nothing,” Daryl grumbled as he moved slightly to the side, to allow her space to move around. 

“It’s not nothing,” Connor said exasperated as he ran his hands through his hair, “you are once again being the first one to stick your neck out for everyone.”

Daryl was not meeting Connor’s eyes anymore; he was looking down. The shrug he gave as an answer just made Connor make more exasperated noises. 

“Why? Why do you do that? Why is it always have to be you?”

Daryl shrugged once again, not saying anything. Carol looked at him where he was standing next to her, and she could see how tense he was, how lost he looked. 

“Do you have some kind of death wish? Is that it?”

“Connor, stop.” Carol’s voice wasn’t loud but her words were said in a way that sounded more menacing that they really were. “Stop it right there.”

Connor didn’t know what to say, or do, as Daryl just stood there in front of him looking at everywhere but him. He hated not being able to follow him, he wasn’t Murphy but he was his little brother, and he couldn’t let anything happen to him; even less so soon after they had finally found him. 

“Why?” Carol didn’t know to whom Connor was asking, her or Daryl. But she chose to answer since Daryl didn’t seem to be about to. 

“He just wants to look out for us…” Carol noticed how Daryl raised his head a little bit, looking at her from the side of his eyes as she kept her back to Connor. “That’s what he does, it’s not because he wants to get hurt, but it’s because he doesn’t want us to be.”

“Let me go with you tomorrow then,” Connor said, not letting Murphy continue talking. He took a step closer to Daryl, and tried not to feel bad when the younger man took a step to the side in turn, closer to Carol. “

“The Governor said that Rick should only take two people with him.” It was the first words Daryl had said since Carol had joined them in the cell. “You know I’m the best choice, it’s plain logic.”

“What’s the logic behind that? Why not take Glenn? Or Tyreese?”

“I’m a better shot than them.”

“But it’s just for negotiations, why does it have to be you?”

“Drop it, Connor.” It seemed like he had finally reached Daryl’s quota for the day, his words were harsh as he asked his brother. 

“I’m not going to drop it; why does it have to be you who sticks his neck out always?”

“Because Rick trusts me.”

“He trusts Glenn too, why does it have to be you? It’s always you who goes in firsts, who has to be beside Rick bloody Grimes”

“Because I’m the one that has nothing to lose!” Silence followed Daryl outburst. 

“Daryl,” Carol said softly, her hand rising to ghost over his bicep; not knowing if he was willing to allow her to touch him. 

“That’s bullshit.” It was Murphy the one to speak then, getting up from where he had been sitting as a spectator. Connor shook his head at Murphy’s words, trying to understand what Daryl was trying to mean. 

“That might have been the case.” Connor took a step forward, and felt a little better as he saw Daryl stay in his place. “But it’s not anymore.”

“It was never the case,” Carol said interrupting whatever it was that Connor was going to add. Daryl’s eyes went immediately to her, where she had turn to stand beside him to look at his older brother. “You might have nothing to lose, but I would have lost you.”

Carol words made Daryl’s eyes sting with unshed tears. He cleared his throat, looking away from her to try and stop the emotions from pouring out. 

“And now you have us,” Murphy said as he took the small step that would put him right by his brothers and their woman. “You have me, Connor and Carol; and we need you here with us.”

Daryl chuckled and shook his head, as if not believing the words said by his brother. Carol’s small hand moved to grab his, entwining their fingers and smiling when he squeezed her hand in return. 

“I’m still going tomorrow,” Daryl muttered, finally looking up and meeting Connor’s eyes. 

“But you’ll stop taking stupid risks.”

“Looks who’s talking,” Murphy muttered, getting out of the way of Connor’s slap to his head. 

Carol and Daryl stood to the side as the brothers started roughhousing, watching with small smiles on their faces. This was their own little family, the people they valued over everyone else, and they were fine with that. 

-.-.-.-.- 

Daryl woke up just before dawn. His internal clock had been the only clock he had needed since he was a teenager, and it had never let him down. 

He knew he still had a few minutes before he was supposed to meet Rick and Hershel, and he took those minutes to enjoy the peace and quiet their cell provided him. The night before, he had been tempted to ask for the first time if he could switch with one of them. The thought had scared him up into his bunk, and had chased the sleep he was longing for away for some time. 

He finally fell asleep as he finally heard Carol’s soft snores, letting her sounds lull him into a sense of comfort and safety as she only could. 

With a groan he rolled to the side, before sitting with his legs hanging. Looking down, he tried not to laugh as he saw Connor asleep in the mattress on the floor. He had been sent there by Carol after he taunted him last night. He had forgiven Connor for his words, but Carol hadn’t been as lenient. 

“You off already?” Connor’s sleepy voice made Daryl look back as he made his way out of the cell. 

“Yeah, sorry,” Daryl muttered as he crouched to pick his boots from where Carol had lined them up together. 

“Wait, I’ll go with you.” Daryl raised his eyebrows as he watched Connor get up groaning from the mattress, wincing when he heard his back pop. “Just till the car.” Daryl nodded as he watched his brother put on his shoes, not caring about putting on a shirt. 

The two of them silently made their way through the cellblock, only stopping at the kitchen to pick up something to munch over as breakfast. 

“I meant what I said last night,” Connor said once the two men were sitting outside over the trunk of the car the group was taking to the meeting. “You don’t have to be the first to take chances…” Connor raised a hand as he saw Daryl open his mouth to interrupt, “I understand the need to protect those you love, hell if I could you would be asleep back in that cell with Murphy and Carol and I would be going instead.”

“Why?” The wonder in Daryl’s words made Connor turn to look at him instead of the unknown point in the horizon he had been looking at. 

“Because you are part of me…” Connor put a fist over his heart, “you are here, you are my brother and I would lay my life down before I let anything happen to you.”

Daryl was saved from having to answer a confession like that by the sound of the metal door that lead them to the cellblock being thrown open, as the two men watched as Rick stalked his way out of the cellblock and towards them. Hershel followed somewhat more calmly, but yet as determined. 

“Are you ready?” Rick asked Daryl as he finally reached them. The youngest Dixon nodded, grabbing his crossbow from where he had put it resting beside the car’s wheel and pulled it over his shoulder. 

“Come back to us, brother,” Connor said softly as he put a hand over Daryl’s shoulder. Daryl nodded at him, a small smile on his face before opening the back door of the car and making his way inside. 

Rick nodded at Connor, throwing him the set of keys as the Irishman made his way towards the inner fence. The moment they were close enough he opened the door, closing it again just after they left. Feeling like a part of his own soul was going with them, he just hoped this time it would come back without delays. 

.-.-.-.-

The whole day, Carol felt like she was expecting for the other shoe to drop. The last time Daryl had left the prison he hadn’t come back right away. And although she knew that this time it would be different, he had his brothers, in plural, waiting for him there… she still worried. 

Murphy and Connor had been amazing. They had been extra attentive, noticing how anxious she was at their missing piece. Because that was what Daryl was, he was the fourth piece of this puzzle that was their own little family, that fitted like he was always meant to be there.

“What we should be doing, is loading everything up and going to shoot that motherfucker; we know where he is” Merle said from where he was standing, watching as everyone worked together to prepare even more. 

“Merle, stop it,” Carol muttered as they continue with the task of getting the ammo ready and putting it away in strategic positions. 

“I’m just saying it as it is, mouse.”

“You are suggesting we just go there and kill him?” Connor threw Murphy a look at Glenn’s bewildered tone. Merle’s idea wasn’t that farfetched in their minds, that man was as evil as they come, but they needed a plan for that. 

“I am.”

“We’re staying put, we told Rick and Daryl we would and we’re doing that,” Michonne said, venom in her voice. 

“I change my mind, sweetheart; being in the outlines while my brother is there, it doesn’t sit well with me.”

“It was Daryl’s decision,” Connor spoke for the first time addressing his half-brother. “We talked with him, we told him we would go with him, he refused.”

“Baby brother is stupid, that’s why. He’s the sweet one, he sees strays in need and he’s willing to starve to feed the mange filled assholes.”

“He knows what he’s doing.” It was Carol this time the one that came to Daryl’s defense, glaring at Merle while she loaded the gun in her hands. “He isn’t stupid.”

“The three of them are in the middle. If they don’t know we’re coming, a thousand things could go wrong. They could be taken hostages, or killed.” Glenn’s patient was running out, he started grabbing what he needed to continue working far away from Merle, because he would not be able to keep himself from killing the older man if this continued. 

“And a thousand things will go wrong.”

“My dad knows how to take care of himself.” Carl snarled at Merle from Glenn’s side. 

“I’m sorry kiddo, but your dad’s head is probably in a pike by now.”

The slap resounded in the whole common area. No one had even noticed that Carol had stood up from where she had been sitting and had made her way to the oldest Dixon. Even Merle looked surprised.

“Shut the hell up, Merle Dixon.” Her words were said between teeth, her jaw clenched as her hands closed in fists at her sides. “You are going to stop this nonsense, you are going to have faith in your brother’s skills and you are going to shut the fuck up!”

When Carol turned, everyone was looking at her like they were seeing her for the first time. Not Murphy and Connor though, the two of them were looking at her like she was the best thing that had ever happened to them. Without another word, and one final glare at the oldest Dixon; she turned on her heels and walked back to where she had been sitting. Without saying anything, she returned to her previous work. 

“Damn that mouse,” Merle muttered as he put a hand against his cheek. It had been a slap, but damn that had hurt like a bitch. 

Glenn just grabbed the rest of his equipment and silently left the room. Rick, Daryl and Hershel needed to be back ASAP. 

.-.-.-.-

“That was the hottest thing I ever seen in my life,” Murphy muttered in Carol’s ear as he pulled her to him as she passed him by. Merle had settled for a while after his smack down by the way of Carol’s slap, and everyone was back to work as usual. 

They all knew it wouldn’t be Merle’s last attempt to do what he wanted them to do. But at least he was quiet. 

“Stop,” Carol said rolling her eyes as she pulled away from his embrace. 

“I’m being honest, I never thought something like that could feel so good.”

“Is he talking about his dick again? He just recently discovered he has one.” Carol out right laughed as Murphy tried simultaneously to throw a punch at his brother because of his words and keep Carol in his arms. 

“You agree with Merle, don’t you?” Carol asked once the two of them had settled down a bit. They were standing in one of the corridors. Their silence was enough confirmation for her. 

“But what Glenn said is also true,” Connor said as Murphy nodded along. “We know what going in ablaze without a proper plan can lead to, we would never risk Daryl getting shot while doing something like that.”

“But you guys could come up with a better plan?”

“If given enough time.” Carol sighed as she ran a hand through her short hair, letting Connor pull her into his chest putting her between the two of them. 

“I hate this,” Carol muttered against Connor’s collarbones, “I hate that we have to live scared, that we’re doing exactly what he wants, I hate feeling like we can’t do anything to stop him.”

“We will,” murphy muttered against her neck, “we’ll kill the motherfucker and we’ll stay here.”

“I want to believe you so much.”

.-.-..-.

“Stop trying to convince people to join you, Merle.” Merle startled from where he was watching Michonne leave by the voice on the other side of the cellblock. He turned to look as Connor made his way down to him. 

“Where’s the other leprechaun, lucky charms?”

“You really lack originality,” Connor said as he finally reached him, leaning his shoulder against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. “And that’s why you can’t come up with a decent plan that someone will be willing to follow.”

“So you’re saying, you…” Merle motioned to him, “one half of the Irish boy wonders would be up to murder if there was a well-crafted plan?”

“Basically, yes.” Connor laughed at Merle’s shocked expression. “Shitty plans get people killed, and we’re not going in there and putting Daryl in more danger than he already is.”

“He needs to die.”

“In that we agree.” Connor moved to walk pass Merle, stopping only when the older man grabbed his arm. 

“Have you ever done something like this, boy?” There was something behind Merle’s words that Connor couldn’t exactly work out what it was. He noticed for once how alike their eyes were, probably a common trait from their mother. 

All Connor did was smile at him, pulling away from his grip and continuing his way. He had more important things to do than listen to Merle. 

.-.-.-.-

Carol was pacing up and down the inner gate, together with Carl, when they first heard the sound of a car approaching the prison from the road.

“They’re back!” Carl threw her the keys, as they both saw the green car making its way towards them. She could feel Connor and Murphy at her back, keeping her and Carl safe as they opened the gate. It felt like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders as she saw Daryl in the back seat of the car as they drove inside. 

Carl helped her close the gate, and they made their way to the car as soon as it was secured. Daryl was already out, she wanted to run to him and make sure that he was really there, he was really back. But she kept her distance, she gave him his space. 

“Everything ok?” She asked him softly as she stood beside him, watching as Hershel embraced his daughters in greeting. 

He made a noise of affirmation, but Carol couldn’t help but smile a little as she felt his fingers brushing hers. He was trying, that was all she needed. 

“Ran into any trouble?” Connor asked, Murphy and him standing behind the two of them. Daryl turned from the heartfelt reunion to look at his brothers. 

“It was too quiet, he only had an asshole and his butler with him.”

“You think he planned something?” It was Murphy who asked this time, Carol was standing between the two identical men and she couldn’t help but notice how different they were within their alikeness. 

Daryl shrugged, “probably.”

“Good to have you back, brother.” Daryl smiled tentatively at Connor as the older man put a hand on his shoulder.

“Where’s Merle?”

The laugh he got as an answer from Murphy, as he pulled Carol to his side as they followed the rest of their family inside made him raise an eyebrow. “I’ll tell you later.” Was all he got from Connor as the older man threw his arm over his shoulders and pulled him along. 

Whatever happiness or feeling of joy they were feeling over Daryl’s safe return home, it was sucked out as they made their way where Rick was waiting for them all. Daryl moved to stand closest to Rick, resting his shoulder against the wall while keeping Carol behind him, close. 

The twins were standing just behind Carol, looking at each other as they noticed everyone’s tense faces. 

“So I met this Governor,” Rick said as he stood by the stairs that lead to the upper level. He was in full officer mode and no one dared to say anything. 

“Sat with him for quite a while…” he was looking at the faces in front of him. Some young, some old. Some experienced with death, some innocent as they could ever be.”

“Just the two of you?” Merle interrupted him, his voice making Daryl shiver in disgust at the feeling it brought out of him. Carol noticed that and touched his hand lightly with hers, hooking her little finger with his.

“Yes.”

“We should have gone when we had the chance, bro,” Merle muttered as he turned on his back and walked past Glenn and Connor. Connor watched him as he left from over his shoulder. He had been honest when he said he agreed that it had to be done, but he was still sure they had taken the right decision. He was not willing to lose a brother over that motherfucker. 

“He wants the prison.” Daryl moved from one foot to the other, anxiety coming out from every pore of his body. Carol took a deep breath; their fingers were still entwined. “He wants us all gone.” She moved a little closer to him, and she smiled when she felt Murphy and Connor doing the same thing behind them. “Dead.” She could feel Murphy’s shoulder against her back, and she was grateful for having them there, with her. “He wants us dead, for what we did to Woodbury.” She noticed from the side of her eye that Merle hadn’t really gone away. He was standing now between Carl and Connor, they made eye contact and the oldest Dixon gave her a small nod. He was with them. 

“We are going to war.” Rick moved out as soon as he said those words. 

Daryl moved away from her, their fingers slipping apart as he put more distance in between them. He turned to look at the MacManus first, before his eyes searching for Merle. Carol watched as he gave his oldest brother a tense nod, she sighed when she saw Merle answer to his call. Merle was on board with the, he was willing to put differences aside for his brother, and she was grateful for that. 

.-.-.-.-.-

“Dammit!” Daryl yelled as he kicked one of the doors in the boiler room. It was the furthest he could get from anyone at the moment, and although he had initially thought that was what he needed, time alone to think, once he was alone he realized he didn’t like the feelings that it made him feel. “Motherfucker!” He yelled kicking the offending door once again. 

“You and Murphy are too much alike sometimes.” Daryl stopped when he heard Connor’s voice from the open door behind him. He was giving him his back, heaving as he tried to process everything that he was feeling at the moment. 

“I mean; it does come down to that question right? How much of it is learned and how much it’s already ingrained on us from birth?”

Daryl just shook his head, finally turning to look at his brother looking like he was saying nonsense.

“That look, that one is all yours.” Daryl huffed as he moved to rest his back against the workbench, looking warily at Connor as he moved to stand beside him. “You feeling any better?”

“Something is going to happen,” Daryl’s deep voice made Connor shudder. There was so much anger and pain behind each word his brother said, it just broke his heart. “And I could have finished it today, he was there with just that pussy Martinez and the fucking butler.”

“Did you check the perimeter? Are you 100% sure there was no one else out there?”

Daryl shook his head, eyes down.

“We had to keep Merle from going in, we told him more than once not to, not without a plan.”

“Like a plan can change anything.”

“Believe me, brother, people die when plans are not fully thought out… people die even when the plans are fully thought out.”

At Daryl’s silence, Connor continued. “Do you ever wonder why Murph and I were here? Because you never asked.”

Daryl shrugged, his hand from the side that was not next to Connor going to his mouth so he could bite at the skin of his thumb. 

“Do you ever remember hearing about the Boston’s Saints?” Daryl shook his head, he had never been one to watch the news or read the paper. 

“Murphy would feel so appalled at that,” Connor muttered before he continued. “Eleven years ago, on Saint Paddy’s day, we got a fight with some members of the Russian mob, we were quite drunk by then and there were more of us… but it was really Murphy and I who started the whole mess.”

Connor took a breath as he looked down at his hands in front of him, faint scars from one of the worst moments of his life still visible. “The next day, the Russians found us, they came into our apartment, handcuffed me to our toilet and took Murphy.”

“If I close my eyes I still can see Murphy’s face as they took him away,” Connor’s voice shook slightly as he got lost in the memories. “I could see fear in his eyes, but there was this complete trust in me, he knew I would never let anything happen to him.”

“What happened?” daryl asked after a few seconds that Connor had taken to try and gather his thoughts. 

“I threw a toilet to the Russians and jumped from a fifth floor.”

Daryl’s chuckles were contagious, and soon the two of them were laughing at what probably was the stupidest idea Connor had ever had. 

“We killed them, and after that, we just felt this calling to do what was right.” It had taken a few minutes for the both of them to stop chuckling, enough to get back to the more serious manner. “After that, we just became these persons that would try to defend the innocent by killing the guilty; but we lost people along the way.”

“Our father,” Daryl said softly as if it the thoughts were finally falling into place. 

“Among others, we lost one of our best friends because we thought we could do this without consequences; but everything has consequences.”

“So you were some Robin hood shit?”

“Not really, we weren’t killing them to steal from them… just to keep them off the streets.”

“How many?” 

“Too many, but I can say with honesty that every single one of them deserved it.”

Silence fell upon them, as Daryl tried to process what he had just heard. He knew Merle had killed people, he had been in the army for a long time, and he had been out of it for just as much. But he would have never thought about it from them, they weren’t violent in their everyday life… not like Merle or even him. 

“Carol…” Daryl started but didn’t know how to continue. 

“She’s the only one that knows apart from you.” At Daryl’s shocked and hurt face, Connor was fast to add. “She already knew who we were, she told us quite early in our friendship.”

“You have to understand Daryl; we don’t do harm to those that doesn’t deserve it. Every single one of the people we have killed, are people who don’t have a chance of redemption; people like the Governor who would not stop unless they are stopped. 

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because we want you with us, we want you to know everything about us and know everything about you, because what we feel for each other? It’s starting to feel exactly like what I feel for Murphy, and I don’t want anything pulling us apart, we have enough as it is with what the world is throwing at us.”

“And Carol? How does she fit into all this?” Daryl was surprised he was even bringing this up.

“I really don’t know, what I feel for her? I can’t explain it. It’s not unlike like what I feel for you or Murphy, but for sure I do not feel the need to kiss either of you jackasses.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT NOTICE... 
> 
> THERE MIGHT BE A DELAY IN NEXT WEEK CHAPTER. THE AUTHOR IS FREAKING OUT CAUSE SHE'S GOING TO NYC AND PRESENTING HER RESEARCH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FRONT OF A LOT OF PEOPLE AND MIGHT NOT HAVE TIME TO WRITE... I also might sneak to walker stalker NJ and try for the photo op with Reedus but I haven't decided yet.... 
> 
> I LOVE YOU ALL AND I HOPE I'LL BE BACK SOON.
> 
> [GEEKTAIRE](http://geektaire.tumblr.com)


	13. Prey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm back! Sorry about last week, I had planned to write while on the plane but the flight was so awful, I couldn't even open my laptop to write because of how close were the seats to one another. But new chapter is here, this is unbeta, version after the beta will come in a couple of days... so all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> We're getting to the last few chapters... it's been a wild ride. When I started writing this about four months ago, I never expected to actually finish it, and yet, here I find myself 86k in and just two chapters away from finishing with season 3. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who has taken their time to leave me a message, either here or in Tumblr, you guys rock!

Chapter XIII

Prey

 

“He’s hiding something,” Murphy muttered to Connor while they watched as Rick stalked across the yard, calling over Daryl to talk strategy. 

Connor’s silence was basically an affirmation from his brother. Murphy’s feelings for their ‘fearless’ leader was no secret to his brother, between the way the man treated Daryl,  his inconsistency in the way he pretended he was the leader, and the way he was not paying Carl enough attention, it was enough for a strong dislike for Rick to form in Murphy’s mind. 

The door that led to the bridge, where the brothers were stationed, opened and closed behind a tired looking Carol carrying what could only be baby Judith. Murphy immediately brightened at the presence of the older woman. 

“How is the most beautiful girl in all Georgia?” Murphy asked, making his way closer to Carol. 

“She’s a little fussy, aren’t you Judy?” Carol said looking down to the calm baby, a soft smile on her face. 

“I was asking about you, love; I was going to ask about Judy next.” Carol couldn’t help but blush bright red, scoffing and elbowing him softly when he got into her personal space to peer down at Judith’s face. 

“There’s nothing bad with only being the second most beautiful girl in all Georgia, princess, especially when the most gorgeous one is your Aunty Carol.”

“You are the worst,” Carol muttered swaying the baby as she started to fuss once again. The smile on her face was soft but real, and Murphy couldn’t help but get close and place a kiss on the corner of her mouth. 

Connor laughed shaking his head, as Murphy turned to look at him with a smile on his face. That woman just made the three of them- because he had to include Daryl in that- feel so much that he couldn’t help but fall for her even more at each smile she was able to extract from his siblings. She was a miracle worker in his mind. 

“And you…” Carol couldn’t help but turn to Connor as the other MacManus approached her from the other side, “don’t go around thinking you are any better.”

“I’m a gentleman,” Connor said his voice a little higher as he looked mocked shocked, “I was the one that got attacked yesterday, I was being a true gentleman when you went and stuck your tongue inside my mouth.”

“What?!” Murphy asked, looking up from where he was back cooing over a smiling Judith. “You kissed him?! With tongue?!” 

Connor nodded, grinning as he moved his eyebrows up and down. Laughing as his brother made a grab for him and escaping by putting Carol, and Judith, between them. “It ain’t my fault, I’m more irresistible, little brother.”

-.-.-.

Daryl looked up from where he was standing with Rick when he heard her laughter. Her laughter was so rare these days, any laughter was if he was being honest, but hers more than others. He loved the fact that during their time as friends he had gotten to make her smile, and even got a chuckle out of her more than once. The small smile that threatened to appear on his face as he watched from afar while his brothers made her laugh was a rare one, and he was able to catch himself before someone noticed. 

Rick was talking, and Daryl tried to block out the sounds his family were making to try and concentrate on what their leader was saying. He could see that Rick was behaving even more jumpy lately, and that worried him. The man was not doing alright after what happened to Lori, and if he was being honest he understood completely. 

He had almost lost Carol, and for those hours, less than a full day really, he had felt like a part of him was just gone. And he had just lost his best friend, his maybe something, while Rick had lost the mother of his children and his other half. 

Daryl shouldered his crossbow as he put his attention back on Rick. The prison needed to be even more prepared for the attack, and they all needed to work on it. They were not losing anyone else to the Governor, he refused to. 

“We need to go back to round the clock guards,” Rick said as he squinted up to the watchtower, sighing when he found that Merle was up there again. “And not only having your brother up there.”

“He’s a good spotter,” Daryl muttered as he threw a look at where Merle was sitting with his legs hanging from the tower. “And he can’t piss anyone else off if he’s up there.”

“He’s also one of our best shooters.” Daryl tried not to look too surprised at Rick’s words, the fact that the man was openly admitting something good about Merle was definitely something else. “We need to keep everyone rested enough to be at their best if we need them.”

“I’ll tell him; I’ll talk with Glenn to start the shifts again.” Daryl turned on his back to start going back into the prison when Rick’s voice stopped him. 

“Do you think I did the right thing? Wanting to make a pact with him?”

“We should have shot the son of a bitch when we had the chance,” was all Daryl said, not turning back to look at his friend as he started making his way back to the inside of the prison, his eyes moving automatically to where he knew his brothers and Carol were. He had a bad feeling about this, and it scared him to think about what his gut was trying to tell him. He was scared not for him, but for them, for  _ his _ family. 

-.-.-.-

The steps Carol heard coming up the stairs were not those she was familiar with. Connor and Murphy had finally let her come back inside once Judith got sick of being moved around while she was used as a human shield and demanded her bottle. Carol chuckled as she remembered the panicked face of both men when the little girl started complaining loudly over the lack of milk; if there was something the big bad MacManus brothers were afraid of, it was a crying baby she had learnt. 

The steps stopped at the opening of her cell, and she raised her head from watching the baby feed to see Carl standing awkwardly at the cell opening. His hat was as usual on the top of his head, and he looked at the bundle in her arms as if he wasn’t sure whether he should get closer or not. 

“Hey big brother,” Carol said softly, a smile in her face when she saw Carl look up and meet her eyes. The small smile the boy gave her in return was a win in her books. “Want to come and help me feed your baby sister?”

The boy looked scared as he slowly made his way towards her. He had become a lot quieter since she had met him, even more so since Judith’s birth. Murphy had confided in her about his talks with the boy, and she felt so much love for the youngest MacManus over the amount of care and compassion he had shown the young boy that was now sitting beside her. 

They were not going to let him get lost in this mess; she would not lose another child if she could ever avoid it. 

Without saying anything, she moved taking the bottle away from Judith, cooing softly as the girl started fussing and passed her to her big brother’s arms. Carl smiled softly looking down at his sister, raising his head and smiling at Carol as she got closer and put the bottle back into the baby’s mouth. 

“I remember when Sophia was this small…” Carol’s voice broke a little as she said her girl’s name, but she knew she needed this as much as he did. “I was scared all the time that I was going to hurt her, that I would do something wrong and she would get sick or something.”

“She’s so little,” Carl said, his voice full of wonder as he looked down at Judith again. Carol smiled, using her free hand to caress the baby’s cheek softly. 

“They are the most resilient little things, you all are.” Carol said the last thing, as she shoved Carl with her shoulder softly, getting a giggle from the boy in return. “I’m really proud of you, for taking such a good care of her.”

“Someone has to,” Carl muttered a little bitterly while trying to hide the fact that his cheeks were a little red from her compliment. 

“I want you to know that she’s not your responsibility, you have all of us, we are all here for you.” Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper but it was strong. Judith finished her bottle, and Carol took it away. Without saying a word, she took the baby from Carl’s arms and put her against her shoulder, patting her back as Carl watched. 

Carl was still giggling at the huge belch Judith had let out as Carol brought her back into her arms. Without saying a thing, both of them moved back until their backs were against the cell’s wall. When Daryl arrived to their cells to pick up his extra quiver, he found Carl with his head on Carol’s shoulder as the three of them napped for the afternoon. What he would have done to have a camera for once in his life. 

\--.-.-.-.-.-

“Are you almost done here?” Daryl asked as he made his way to where Murphy and Connor were coming up with their plan to somehow booby trap the tombs in case it was needed. 

“Yes!” Connor sounded more excited that someone probably should in their situation, but Daryl chose to ignore it as one of those new and ‘special’ things he seemed to be finding out about his brothers. “We were thinking of using those doors over there,” Connor said as he pointed to doors that were about ten feet away from them, “and the backup generator Axel got to work before well… you know.”

“Those doors have electronic locks, and there is another set between those and the barricade,” Murphy continued as he tried not to laugh at Connor’s expression. “They can be opened from the main office; we would be opening them blind since I don’t reckon we have enough power for the cameras but we can be far away enough that we won’t be in danger from the walkers.”

At Daryl’s impressed face, Connor huffed. “I know shit.”

“Ask him from what movie he got it from…”

“Fuck off.”

The three brothers started making their way back to cell block C. They were a few hallways away when Daryl stopped them from going any further. Both Connor and Murphy turned they full attention to their youngest brother, and Daryl tried not to fidget at that. 

“I want to ask you two to do something for me,” Daryl said as he looked down at his feet.

“Done.” Daryl looked up as he heard Murphy’s words, glaring at the middle triplet while the other man smiled softly at him. 

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”

“Whatever it is, if it’s for you, we’ll do it, it’s a given.” Connor was the one that answered then, shaking his head as he lowered his head slightly to catch Daryl’s eyes. “You are one of us, Daryl…” he moved so was able to put a hand in his shoulder to keep him from bailing on them, “that means that whatever is important to you, it’s important to us.”

Sometimes Daryl couldn’t believe what his life had become. Sometimes it was easier for him to believe that the dead were walking the earth, than to believe that fuck up Daryl Dixon, follower Daryl Dixon, good for nothing bastard Daryl Dixon, had three people that seemed to care for him and were willing to put him first for once in his life. 

Daryl swallowed, hard, sniffing as he felt his nose start to clog up with the telltale signs of tears wanting to make an appearance. 

“If something happens…” he shook his head as he saw both of his brothers start to open their mouths to say something, “if something happens and we do have to make a run for it, take Carol and the kids, and make them your priority.”

“Daryl-“ Murphy had started to say, only to be cut off by Daryl as he violently shook his head. 

“No!” Daryl looked around as he noticed he had raised his voice; he lowered it again, not wanting to bring any attention to them. “I need to know Carol is safe, and I know you two care for her as much as I do.” 

Connor looked at both of his brothers’ faces as Daryl said those words. There was absolutely no recrimination in those words, there was absolutely no resentment in any of his words, and Connor felt like a weight was being taken from his chest. 

“She won’t go without you.” Connor intervened, squeezing his brother’s shoulder lightly as their eyes met. “That woman loves you, loves us, as much as we love her. She won’t go anywhere without us, without  _ all _ of us.”

“Hey,” Murphy said as he saw Daryl look like someone had punched him in the chest. “She’s not the only one that loves you, so stop all this non sense and just stay with us, alright?” 

Daryl hadn’t even noticed, but by then Murphy was so close to him that he was basically touching his forehead with his. For once in his life, Daryl was close to another human being face to face, and didn’t feel like running. He closed his eyes and let his brothers’ presence fill him. They could do this, they had to do this.  

“So, let’s just now go back to our woman, and try to not let her know what Decks’ here stupid idea was, what do you reckon?” Connor said as he clapped both of his brothers in the back. They were going to be ok, they had to. 

.-.-.-.-.-.-

Merle looked up from he was sitting in his bed with his back against the wall as he heard steps approaching his humble abode. He had been allowed, after a lot of negotiating with Rick and the rest of his merry band of white hats, that he was allowed to move into one of the cells. He had gotten sick, fast, of being looked at like a zoo animal; out there where everyone and their sister could see him at all times.

The steps faltered a few feet from the entrance to his place, and he looked at the wall in front of him. There was just a handful of people that would willingly approach him, and he was sure that those weren’t his brother’s footsteps; as quiet as his baby brother was in the woods it seemed like an elephant was walking around whenever he moved around that catwalk.

“I know you’re out there, mouse,” Merle said chuckling as he heard the steps start over once again. “I don’t bite… unless you ask me to.”

The leer he gave her, together with the whole running his tongue over his lips just made Carol roll her eyes as she looked into his almost empty room. He had taken the one cell furthest away from them all; only theirs and his cell were occupied in the upper level, and she truly had no idea why he had decided to stay that far away from his brother after everything that had happened. “In your dreams.”

“And baby, if you could just see them.” Carol tried not to blush as the older man continued to leer at her. He was a disgusting asshole, but there was just something about him that kept her from outright hating him; probably the amount of love she had for his younger siblings.

“You are disgusting, Dixon.”

“I’m sure you’re not saying that to the  _ other _ Dixon, are you?”

Carol almost threw his plate at him in the hassle of leaving his presence. Merle chuckled as he moved and grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer as she was starting to move back, outright laughing when she landed with a huff in the mattress beside him.

He moved back as soon as he felt her tense up, not liking the idea of the former mouse being afraid of him; not after everything that had happened up until then. “Sit your ass down, mouse, I don’t feel like eating alone once again.”

“Asshole,” Carol muttered as she righted herself, moving until she was sitting with her back against the wall with a good space between them. Merle started to eat, his manners as good as his brother’s… there was no doubt where Daryl had gotten those from.

“Is he alright?” It was Merle who broke the silence moments later. He continued to eat, his attention in the food in his plate as he felt the woman’s eyes over his form.

“He’ll be,” Carol’s voice was soft as she spoke of his brother, different to the way she had spoken to him before. “He’s coming around.”

“You are getting your own little harem, aren’t as innocent as you look, are you mouse?”

Carol tried not to blush at Merle’s words, but she couldn’t help it. She had no idea what she was doing, what she was feeling, but she knew that she wouldn’t be able to give any of them up. Those three were so deep ingrained in her heart by then, that having to choose just seemed impossible.

“Stop,” Carol muttered as she looked down at her hands.

“My baby brother…” Merle’s voice had something in it, that Carol was sure she had never heard before. She looked up, only to meet a pair of blue eyes that were so alike in hue to those that she loved, that she couldn’t help but smile a little at him. “He has always loved more than I could ever understand, I tried my best mouse, I truly did…” Merle stopped to swallow down something that only he knew what it was. “Our Daddy…” he stopped, laughing humorlessly before continuing, “my daddy was a son of a bitch, who always treated Daryl like he was a piece of shit.”

Carol couldn’t handle the look in the oldest Dixon’s eyes, so she dropped her eyes to her lap once again, trying to keep the tears at bay.

“I don’t know why; I just did like always… I did as he did.” Merle’s voice never faltered, although there was a deep sadness in it. Carol didn’t realize who moved first, but her hand was softly grasping Merle’s left forearm as he continued his story. “We broke him mouse, for the longest time I could see it, he was broken and it had been because of us… but there was something he had kept hidden from me, from our Daddy.”

“He kept it hidden, and I had never seen it until we met again in those woods, when he was trying to get back here.” Carol swallowed once again, trying not to think of their previous talk in the watchtower. “I saw it again, and I have seen it again and again since we’re back here… he gave you and those two what he never gave to anyone else, and I need you to take care of it Mouse, with your life.”

“I will.”

.-.-.-.-

“We find ourselves back in there, don’t we boys?”

Both Murphy and Connor looked up from where they were sitting down, one looking at each direction away from the tower, towards where Carol was standing, looking down at both of them.

“Jesus, Love, are you trying to make us take a tumble?” Carol just snorted, kicking at Connor’s back softly as she passed him, mock glaring at him when the man made a swipe for one of her feet.

“What are you doing here, love?” Murphy asked her, as he looked over his shoulder at his brother as she settled beside him, putting her head on his shoulder as she joined him on his duty.

“Couldn’t sleep without you boys there,” she muttered as she let her eyes fall shut. It had been too quiet after the brothers had left for their shift at the watchtower. Daryl hadn’t been in yet, still working things out with Rick and Hershel, while she had been left to go to their room on her own. After days of having practically no time of her own, she had felt so completely alone as she laid in bed that she couldn’t help but go and find the half of two thirds of her boys that she knew where they were at.  

Murphy smiled, moving to put his hand over her thigh squeezing lightly. “You should get some rest,” Murphy said softly as he dropped a kiss at the top of her head, “you still have your own shift to go through.”

“But I’m sure my valiant gentleman will stay with little old me?” She asked teasingly as she shot Connor a look over her shoulder, only being able to see the side of his face crinkling with his grin at her use of his own words against him.

“You play dirty, my lady.”

“No news there,” Daryl muttered as he made his way towards them. Grunting as he moved to sit beside Connor with Carol sitting beside him but pointing towards the other direction, looking out towards the dark woods. “You better start learning that while you can.”

Daryl smiled softly at Carol as he looked at her, “I had a feeling you would be here when you weren’t in our room.”

Carol burrowed her face closer to Murphy’s shoulder as something inside her chest just blossomed at hearing Daryl refer to their cell as  _ theirs _ . “Couldn’t sleep without your loud snores to lull me to sleep.”

Daryl snorted, “you forget I’ve been sleeping beside you for the better part for the last year.” Connor couldn’t stop smiling, it was one of the first times that Daryl was willing joining into their teasing, and he was loving it. “If anyone snores, that’s you.”

“He’s saying the truth, love.” Murphy added, chuckling when Carol made a disgruntled noise. “But it’s not an awful snore, it’s kind of an adorable one.”

“I think I’m about to get my place back in our bed tonight,” Connor said in a singsong voice, chuckling at the spluttering noise Daryl made as he did so.

“I think you might.” Carol let her eyes wander the darkness around her, grinning when she felt Daryl’s fingers touch hers where she had her hand on the floor beside hers. He was starting to open up, he was doing it slowly but steady and there wasn’t anything else she could ask of him.

“We need to get a bigger bed,” Murphy muttered as he stretched, sighing when he felt his back crack.

“I don’t think we could fit a King in there,” Daryl muttered as he moved to rest his shoulder against the corner post, moving his hand to rest over Carol’s even more where she was sitting next to him but looking at the other direction.

“Decks, brother…” Connor said stealing a look at Daryl before returning to his task. “Everything in the world can fit in, if you know how to move it.” Connor was grinning, still looking forward but moving his eyebrows up and down as he felt Daryl’s eyes on him.

“Stop.”

.-.-.-

“Sophia used to love to get out in the middle of the night and watch the stars.” Carol’s voice broke the comfortable silence her and Daryl had fallen into once the MacManus had finally fallen asleep.

Daryl felt a pang of regret as he heard the sadness in her voice as she spoke of her little girl, that little girl that had left them too soon.

“Ed would sometimes leave for the weekend, and we would sneak into our backyard and lay in blankets watching the stars…” her voice just drifted into the silence.

She chuckled, “we never were able to even know what we were looking at, we would make up our own constellations.” She used the hand that was not cradling her rifle to point at a group of stars in between them, “that was the tinker bell, at least I think that’s the one that she called that.”

Silence had fallen upon them once again, only broken once or twice when Murphy would mutter something unintelligible under his breath.

“I really wanted to find her for you,” Daryl’s voice was soft, breaking slightly as he finally said what he had been wanting to for better part of a year.

“I know.”

“I’m sorry I failed.”

“You didn’t…” Carol stopped to take a deep breath before continuing, “it was true what I said back then, in those few days you did more for her than her own daddy ever did.”

“I wish I would have done more.”

“Daryl,” Carol’s voice broke as she said his name, the two of them were still not looking at each other, “you might not have saved her back then, but you saved me… You have saved me more times that you can even think about.”

“I did whatever-“

“No you didn’t.” She interrupted him before he could continue with the spiel that she knew by heart ‘he had done what Rick or Glenn, or Shane, would have done’. “You saved me every time you glared at me for giving Lori and Carl my food, you saved me every time you picked a blanket before anyone else and then gave it to me because you knew I would let everyone pick before me, you saved me every time I remembered I had you when I felt like giving up because there was no reason for me to continue without my little girl.”

“So just get that in your head Daryl Dixon, in my books you deserve every good thing in this world.”

“And you?”

Carol tried not to read so much into his question. He was asking about what she deserved, not if he deserved her, was he?

“I deserve what I have.”

-.-.-.-

When Merle looked inside the cell his  _ brothers _ and the mouse slept in and found it empty, he wasn’t really surprised. He knew that him and Rick had the shift in the watch tower immediately after Daryl and his woman, and the fact that the Irishmen had decided to stay with them instead of going back to their cell wasn’t something unexpected.

He went down the stairs, throwing a glare for good measure at Rick as he saw the man settling his daughter down, before leaving the cell block and making his way to the tower. The former deputy was an asshole, but in the end he was the asshole in charge and he somehow had to try and stay on his good side. For as long as they had. The Governor was coming, and he was planning on getting his family out alive, no matter what.

Merle grunted as he made his way up the stairs of the tower, trying to make as little noise as possible. He wanted to spy on his brother for a moment, the need to know his brother was in good hands, that he was being taken care off was something he wasn’t exactly sure where it was coming from… but it was still there.

He arrived at the top of the tower, only to be greeted by an image that he would take to his grave. Daryl,  _ his  _ Daryl, was sitting beside Carol, letting her lean against him. His brother, the man who hated people getting close to him had that woman practically lying against his side as tiredness threatened to win over her.

He watched enraptured as his brother nudge his woman softly, as if to try and keep her from falling asleep, a chuckle following the annoyed grunt she let out at that. “You need to sleep more-“ he could hear his brother’s voice softly telling her “you do too much.”

“I just do my part.”

“Stubborn woman.” He saw as Daryl moved and put his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him.

“Rise and shine girlies!” Merle said loudly as he finally stepped into the tower, he was not going to make his brother’s life completely easy though. He might be trying, but he was still going to fuck with the little asshole if he could.

“What the fuck, fucker?” Murphy muttered as he started to wake up, huffing when Connor pushed him so he could get on his feet.

“Time’s up faggot, get the fuck out of here,” Merle muttered as he moved to take a sit next to where Daryl had been sitting pretending not to pay attention to the movement behind him.

“Where’s Rick?” Daryl asked, after making sure that Connor and Murphy had the half asleep Carol secured between them. At his nod, the two men started walking back to the prison with their precious cargo between them.

“He was putting the little princess back to sleep, you can go your shift’s over.” Dixon men had always been bad at talking feelings, and Merle and Daryl were the worst of them. Daryl made a noise of affirmation, moving to pull out a cigarette pack from one of his pockets taking one out and offering the pack to Merle.

In silence the two brothers waited for the other man to arrive, the early morning light lighting up their faces as they smoke in silence. Sometimes words were just not needed, and sometimes there weren’t enough…

-.-.-.-

 

Murphy sometimes couldn’t believe the woman in his arms was real. If he was honest, he had never in his life felt for someone who was not his brother what he was feeling for her, and even there it wasn’t the same thing.

Without saying a word, Connor had grabbed the rifle she had been carrying smiling at her as she started protesting at his actions. Meanwhile, Murphy had used the fact that he already had his arm around her waist to use that as a leverage and swept her off her feet, telling her to shush as she had started to protest… after all she wouldn’t want to wake up the kiddies, did she?

Carol had given in in the end, resting her head against his shoulder as the two of them watched as Connor opened the doors for them on their way back to their sanctuary.

There had never been anyone in his life that he had even considered sharing his life with, no one other than his brother. The two men had been together since the moment they were born, and other than the time they had been forced apart while in jail, they had never spent more than a night apart. The idea of life outside of the life he had with his brother, with someone else at his side had never been something that appealed to him. That didn’t mean he hadn’t tried, at least in a sense. The two of them had dated, had kissed and had fucked people, him more than Connor… but it did absolutely nothing to him.

He smiled at Connor as he moved to put the already asleep Carol in her bed, watching as she moved to lie on her side looking calm and beautiful in his mind. The need to have her with them, with him, at all times was something he was not exactly used to. He saw as Connor made a motion with his head towards the catwalk, and with a last look at her he followed suit.

Silently, his brother brought out one of the last packets of cigarettes they still had from their stash, getting close to him as he moved to light it from the zippo Connor had lighted.

“She’s quite the lady, isn’t she?” Connor said as he followed his eyes, where he was watching Carol sleep once again.

Murphy just nodded, taking a long drag as he watched his brother watch their woman.

“We’re hers.”

“Absolutely,” Murphy answered right away.

“Con? Murph? Daryl?” Carol asked softly as she started waking up, only to smile at them as she watched them smoking at the opening of their cell. “You are going to smell something awful.”

Murphy put out his half-finished cigarette, taking the time to save it on top of their made up desk for later, before moving to lie down with her worming his way in until he was draped over her back with her against his chest. “You love us anyway.”

Connor watched her as she closed her eyes once she was wrapped in Murphy’s arms. There was no need for her to say it, it was written all over her face.

.-.-.-.-

Merle was done with Rick Grimes. The man had tried to talk to him twice already and he had been able to shut him down quickly, but he couldn’t wait until the next couple got there and he was able to go back and try to get some sleep… or try and find at least a blunt somewhere in that prison.

If there was something the Dixon brothers were good at, was at waiting. Years of hunting had taught the two of them that, and while Rick seemed unable to stay just in one place Merle just sat there and observed.

It was only because of that that he was able to see someone emerge from the woods. His attention went immediately to it, it was walking in a straight line for once, and it seemed like whoever it was they were raising their hand in a wave. His rifle went up, alerting Rick that something was happening. 

“I’ll be damned,” Merle muttered as he saw the dirty form of Andrea materialized in his scope.

A lone shot was heard across the yard. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at [Geektaire](http://geektaire.tumblr.com)


	14. This Sorrowful Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my amazing beta! You Rock! [onequarterbritish](http://onequarterbritish.tumblr.com).
> 
> Also... added some new tags, remember this is mostly canon so.... you've been warned.

Chapter XIV

This Sorrowful Life

 

In theory, silence was the absence of sound… but it wasn’t until moments like these when a person understood that silence itself could be described like a sound. Silence permeated cell block C, once in a while the sound of water falling back into its basing could be heard; but other than that, silence had taken over all of them. 

“Any news?” Murphy asked softly as he rested his shoulder against the wall where Daryl was standing. Daryl shook his head as both of their eyes looked into the cell in front of them, where they could see Carol tenderly washing the blood away from Andrea’s neck. 

Murphy looked at his brother, worry obvious in his face. They had all been woken by the sound of the shot that pierced the tranquility that was the early morning in the prison. The next hour had been chaos. 

All four of them had jumped from their room and ran out of the cell block, Carol had been barking orders to the kiddies as everyone who was capable of shooting a gun moved to their known positions. It wasn’t until the first one of them, Daryl much to his brothers’ chagrin, made his way outside that they had realized they weren’t in fact under attack.

“It’s Andrea!” Rick had yelled at them as soon as they were out, while he and Merle continued to shoot from the tower. “She’s outside the walls, hurry!”

The three of them had looked at each other, and as if they had been working together for longer than they had, and moved through the yard and outside the fence in amazing synchrony. Daryl had looked at Merle, and he had seen him standing there like a statue putting down walker after walker from hundreds of yards away. 

“I need to stop smoking so fucking much,” Connor muttered as he panted while the three of them continued running down the path, killing the walkers that got too close to comfort as they followed Daryl who was on point towards where Merle and Rick were shooting. 

They had reached her just in time, she had been shot through the right shoulder and had been able to crawl as much as she could outside of the woods. In this case open space had been her salvation. 

“The Governor!” She had half said, half gasped as Connor and Murphy helped her up, grunting only when Connor moved to carry her fully. “He was here!”

Connor saw Daryl’s face harden even more, looking at Murphy for help when he saw their brother take a step as if thinking of going after him. “Don’t.” Daryl’s face said it all, the internal fight he had over protecting his family from the immediate danger that were the walkers approaching Connor and Andrea, and going after the man that wanted them all dead. 

“Daryl!” Connor calling out his name as they started getting surrounded by walkers was the prompt that he needed. With a nod to Murphy, the two of them covered their older brother from each side as they started on their way back to the prison. The shooting from the tower never let on, as Merle kept them safe enough to reach the inner gate once again. 

“What happened?” Carol asked as she made her way to them, her gun thrown onto her back as her hands started to flutter around her injured friend. 

“She was conscious when we got to her,” Murphy said as they started ushering Connor inside, Carol running behind the man and the injured woman. “She was up and talking, didn’t notice when she passed out.”

Carol yelled for Hershel as soon as they got into the cell that had been unofficially started to be used as an infirmary. Connor moved away as soon as he left Andrea in the bed, moving back until he felt his brother behind him, feeling like he was able to breathe again as the younger man grounded him. 

Both Murphy and Daryl moved towards Carol once their woman left the cell behind, her hands full of blood, looking tired to the bone but a small smile on her face. “She’s going to make it.” She pulled back when Murphy went to pull her into his arms, “I’m all bloody.” 

“Don’t care,” Daryl muttered as he put an arm around her neck and brought her close to him, avoiding Murphy’s eyes as the slightly older man grinned at him. He felt as she finally accepted the hug for what it was; he felt as she let her body go slightly limp against him. 

“You alright?” Murphy asked her, getting close to her back and bracketing between the identical triplets. Carol couldn’t help but sigh in contentment, but the weight of what she had learnt wouldn’t leave her until she got it off of her chest. 

“Not really, where’s Con?” 

“I’m right here,” the oldest MacManus said as he entered the cell block from having gone to try and get washed. Carol attempted not to stare as she watched him moved without a shirt on, wearing only his jeans. “Eyes up here, love.”

“Stop,” Carol muttered as her eyes finally moved to his. Her cheeks were red, and Connor couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Ain’t my fault you look good enough to eat, Cookie.”

“Stop,” it was Daryl that blushed madly this time around, and Carol couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret over the fact that she was going to have to burst their bubble in the next few second. 

“We need to talk.”

“That sounds ominous,” Murphy muttered as they all watched Carol look around to make sure they were truly alone in the cell block. Everyone had been moved as they worked on Andrea, between the memories and the stench of blood. No one had wanted to stay, and once they had done what they could for her, it had been left on Carol to help her get cleaned up. 

“I wish it was something as simple as having  _ the  _ talk,” Carol said as she moved to sit on the stairs, looking up at her three men in front of her. “Andrea said something to me, she woke up while I was helping her, and she said something that I think you should know.”

“What is it love?” Connor asked softly as he moved to sit beside her, sitting so they were flushed against the other from knee to shoulder. 

“That asshole tried to make a deal with Rick; he asked for him to hand him Michonne.” Carol looked down to her bloody hands as he felt the eyes of her men move to her.  Her hands were shaking slightly she noticed for the first time; adrenaline had a weird way of taking over your body. 

“He didn’t accept, that’s why he didn’t even bother telling us.” Daryl was the first one to speak, there was something in his voice that the other three couldn’t really decipher. It was like he really wanted to believe what he was saying but deep inside he knew that wasn’t really the reason. 

“Brother,” Connor said as he looked up at him. “If he really had put that idea out of his mind, he would have told us what his terms were.”

“No,” Daryl said as he started to pace in front of where they were sitting. He was stalking, a hunter with too much energy who couldn’t do anything to get it out. “You’re wrong.”

“Decks,” Murphy said softly. There was a sadness in his voice, that made Daryl look up; before he shook his head and continued his pacing. 

“I don’t believe he will give her up,” Daryl finally stopped, his head was down and he looked defeated. 

“He will if he thinks it’s the only choice.” Carol muttered as she laid her head on Connor’s shoulder. She heard Daryl’s intake of breath as she said those words, but she couldn’t look at him. Rick had made Daryl feel appreciated, he had made him feel useful; and Daryl respected the man too much in her books sometimes. 

“I can’t believe you,” Daryl’s voice was starting to get hard, and Carol closed her eyes. She knew that voice, she had been at the receiving end of that voice more than once. Daryl needed time to process it, it was nothing personal… she had to continue repeating that in her head as she stayed where she was by Connor. “Are you really saying that Rick will do that? That ain’t us.”

“But it might be him.” Murphy’s words seemed to shut Daryl up completely. The archer looked at the face that was an exact replica of his and couldn’t help but get mad. 

“You are all crazy! He’s the one that got us all the way here, and that’s how you repay him? You are some disgraceful sons of bitches.” His voice was hard and louder than before; at the look his two brothers gave him, Daryl just turned on his heels and left the three of them behind. Rick wouldn’t do that, would he?

“He’ll be back,” Carol sighed as she let Connor pull her closer to him, burrowing her nose in his neck breathing in the smell that was all him. “I know him.”

.-.-.-

It was almost midday and he was still not talking to them. Murphy rolled his eyes when Daryl, yet again, ignored Connor’s hand for help and moved to Glenn. It was getting ridiculous, it was like trying to work with a five-year-old, although if he was being honest Daryl’s petty actions did remind him of what he used to do to Connor as revenge when they were younger.

“I hope Carol is right,” Connor muttered in Gaelic as the two of them took off one more of the barriers they were going to use to keep the cars from getting close to the inner fence if they were attacked. “And he gets his head out of his arse sooner rather than later.”

“I think we just caught him unaware,” Murphy answered in the same language, smirking as he saw their brother look at them funny before dropping his side of the board and moved to kill a walker that was approaching him, only for an arrow to etch itself in its head before he had gotten close enough for him to use his knife. “And he has a slight hero worship on the man.”

“Is that jealousy I detect, dear brother?”

“Fuck you.”

“Are you two fucking done?” Daryl asked them from the back of the pickup truck were him and Glenn were already standing. “Or do you want me to leave you two asses to get eaten by those fucking geeks?”

“As if,” Murphy muttered as he grabbed the hand Glenn was giving him to help get up. Connor just glared at his youngest brother as he jumped up at once without help to the bed of the truck, shrugging at the look of contempt he got from the youngest triplet.

“Carol would kick your ass if you did.”

“Pfft.”

The three men, minus Daryl, were still chuckling when they jumped down from the bed of the truck once they were back inside.

“If they try to drive up once again, this means their tires will hopefully been blown out.” Glenn explained, squinting against the sun as he saw Rick approach them.

“That’s a good idea,” Rick muttered as he turned to look at Daryl.

“It was Michonne’s.” The reaction their so called leader had to Daryl’s words, said everything he didn’t need to hear. A side eyed look to his brothers, calmed him as he saw that the other two had noticed as well.

“We don’t have to win…” all of their eyes turned to Michonne, “we just have to make it so that to get to us, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

“That’s a brilliant idea, lass,” Murphy said raising a hand for a high five from the warrior. Michonne frowned slightly, before slowly putting her hand up and high fiving the middle triplet.

Rick frowned as he looked at them, turning to look back as they all heard Carl, Maggie and Ben join them from calling the walkers away.

Daryl and Connor shared a look, there was definitely something going on and they had to be prepared. The three of them especially had to be on the same page. Daryl gave Connor a slight nod, to which the older brother smiled in return. They were on the same page, definitely.

.-.-.

“Ain’t no way,” Merle muttered as he watched from a window where his brothers followed the deputy and ran around the prison trying to save something that in his books, would be better off lost.

“Did you say something, Merle?” Carol asked as she looked up from where she was once again, cataloguing bullets and their ammo. Everyone else took care of reinforcing the prison and Hershel and Beth scouted for a safe place for the group in case of an attack. Meanwhile she had been left to babysit all the members of their family that needed to be babysat… Andrea, Judith and Merle.

Merle rolled his eyes before he turned to look down at his brothers’ woman. She was a pretty little thing, there was more of a lioness than a mouse from what he had seen in the past few days. “We got any whiskey? Vodka?”

“Go to hell, Merle,” Carol muttered as she stood up to go get Judith from where she had started to fuss. She could hear the older man walking around the catwalk, and as much time as she had spent with him lately, together with the situation they were going through, she felt like she was about to jump out of her skin.

“Aww mouse.” Merle couldn’t help it, it was like second nature to be an asshole to those he somewhat cared about, and the mouse had earned her place. “Why are you being like this? Don’t you want to get your socks knocked off by good old Merle?”

“The day I let you touch me, Merle…” she made a pause to look up at him from where she was putting Judith down to sleep, “ is the day I go blind and deaf and that's only after I've been bitten.” She smirked up at him, and he couldn’t be more proud. “That way I can turn and bite your dick off ”

Carol couldn’t help but smile and shake her head as he heard his laugh behind her. He wasn’t a wild card as everyone else thought, she knew this man, and as much as she had initially thought he was just like Ed had been, she had been wrong. As much of an ass as he was, if there was one thing that Merle Dixon cared about, was his brother. So yes, he was an asshole, but he was theirs.

-.-.-.

“Hey, have you seen Merle around?” Daryl said softly to Glenn as he approached him. Glenn looked over as he tried to shoulder the broken gate back into place, grunting in thanks as Daryl moved to help him quickly.

“Has he said he’s sorry yet?” Daryl continued as if the silence from Glenn meant nothing. “Because he is.”

“He’s gotta make it right…” he watched as Glenn continued giving him the silent treatment while he moved around gathering supplies to make the Molotov cocktails. “There’s got to be a way, I’m gonna make him.”

Glenn stopped what he was doing, sighing as he looked down at bottles in the table.

“I’m know he’s an ass, but if you had it in you just to forgive him…”

Glenn slammed his hand into the chair, making Daryl jump a little at the unexpected sound of the bottles rattling. Glenn sighed once again, before making up his mind and rounding the table until he was standing in front of his friend.

“Do you know what he did to me? He tied me to a chair, tortured me and then threw a walker on top of me.” Daryl knew that, he knew that his brother was not a good person, but he still needed him as weak as that might make him. “I could have gotten over that…” there was something in Glenn’s eyes that made Daryl know that forgiveness was not in his brother’s stars. “but he took Maggie to a man that terrorized her, humiliated her… I care about her more than I care about me. I think you can understand that.”

Daryl couldn’t stop looking at his friend, trying to process what he had just said to him. He knew Glenn was right, if someone had done that to her, to Carol, he would have never forgiven him. He would have killed the son of a bitch. Daryl nodded, slowly making his way to where he had left his crossbow.

“I understand,” he said softly as he moved past him. And he did, he couldn’t help but think about it as he made his way inside looking for his brother once again. He reached the kitchen, only to find Carol alone cooking.

“Where’s everyone?” He asked her as he made his way to where she was standing in front of what served as a stove. He hated that he had left the way he did earlier today, he hated whenever he raised his voice at her.

“Haven’t you heard? I’m on babysitting duty.” He didn’t deserve the smile he got from her as she looked over her shoulder to him, not after the way he had behaved that morning. “I’m in charge of all the babies in here, Judith, Andrea and Merle.”

He couldn’t help but snort at her words, biting his lip as he stopped a few feet away from her. “Are you alright?” Carol asked him, watching him with slight worry in her face.

That was what convinced him to go through with what he wanted to do. He moved slowly, as if afraid she would pull away, putting his arms around her waist and pushing himself against her back. “I’m sorry,” he said softly as he moved to lay his forehead against her shoulder.

“Nothing to be sorry for,” she answered putting the large spoon she was using to mix the food in the pot and putting one of her free hands on the back of his head.

“You were right.” His whispered words broke her heart. She didn’t want to be right; she had hoped with everything she was that she wasn’t.

And as quick as he had arrived, he was gone. With a last sigh, Daryl had pulled back, he had dropped a quick kiss in the back of her head and had left the kitchen without saying anything else.

“Boys are weird, little asskicker, learn that from an early age and things will be easier.” 

Daryl couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard her words drift away while he made his way further into the tombs. He was sure his cheeks were still red, as well as his hands were shaking… he had never done something like that. Sure he had hugged her before, that morning being one of those. But to put his arms around her, just because he wanted to? Without having a proper ‘reason’ to do so?

He put his bow up as he rounded up another corner, “Merle,” he said as he looked inside an open door. His brother had to be around here somewhere, and he needed to properly talk to him. What had happened that morning, what was going on with Rick and Michonne, he needed to make sure his brother wasn’t going to do anything stupid. He was Merle after all.

“Merle, are you down here?” He yelled as he entered the generator room, dropping his crossbow once he saw his brother was in there.

“Hey little brother,” Merle said with fake joy, smirking when he saw Daryl looked at him like he knew it he was lying. “Or should I say, littlest brother?”

Daryl just shrugged, looking around at the empty room. “What the fuck?”

“I was just about to holler at you, you were yelling like a bitch in heat.”

“What are you doing down here?” Daryl said trying to not let his brother get a rise out of him, that was Merle, annoying asshole Merle.

“The usual, ya know…” Merle said looking over his shoulder and moving so he could somewhat hide what he had behind him as inconspicuously as possible. “Looking for some leftover crack, some crystal meth.” He moved quickly to intercept Daryl as the younger man moved to look behind the first row of generators.

“You didn’t fuck with them, did you?” Daryl asked as he pointed to the working generators with his face, barely getting out of the way when Merle took a swipe at him.

“Who do you think I am, boy? I ain’t stupid, that trap those brothers of yours came up will need that generator.”

“They’re your brothers too,” Daryl muttered softly as he let his eyes drop. Merle watched him, trying to compare him to the man he had seen the last few days, the man he knew he could be. When in his presence, Daryl just seemed to return to be the same cowardly boy he had known all his damned life.

“Everything is going so sweet, nah?” Daryl looked at his brother, trying to figure out what he was up to. Merle was always up to something.

“You talked to Rick yet?” Daryl noticed the subtle clues he had learnt to decipher since he was a kid. Merle was hiding something and as he moved to answer, he was pretty sure he knew what it was now.

“Oh yeah, I’m in.” Daryl started to pace slowly, trying to hide all the anxiousness the whole deal caused him. “But he doesn’t have the stomach for it; he’s gonna buckle, you know that.”

“If he does, he does.” Daryl hoped, he really did.

“You want him to?” there was disbelief in Merle’s tone, and Daryl didn’t know how to feel about that. Was his brother so sure he was up to basically straight up murder of a good person to keep his ass safe?

“That shit ain’t right,” Daryl finally said directly to his brother.

Merle scoffed at his words. “Wake up, boy. This is what it is now!”

“It doesn’t have to be, we’re not like that.”

“Are those your words? Or are those the words of that bitch you want to fuck so bad?” Daryl sneered at his brother, taking a step towards him. “Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother? Or are they hanging from her fucking ears like fucking Christmas ornaments?”

Daryl scoffed, turning on his heel to take a couple of steps away from his brother. It was the only thing keeping him from throwing a fist at his face.

“You use to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?”

“ **You** used to call them sheep, I was too busy following  _ you _ .” Daryl had stopped, looking at Merle head on and seemingly seeing him for the first time. “What happened? I found something I had never had before.”

“A pussy to fuck?! If it had been that, I could have gotten you some a long time ago.”

“A real family.” Daryl never raised his voice, watching as Merle looked shocked as he muttered those words.

“You need to grow up…” Merle took a step closer to Daryl, watching in wonder as the younger man didn’t back down as he had done for many years, “because as much as your bitch may say she cares about you? As much as those two faggots may tell you they are your family, you and I will always be alone… always.” Merle’s jaw was so tight he was sure it would be sore later on, but he couldn’t let Daryl see how much being left behind hurt him, he could never let anyone see.

“You are wrong, the people here? They’re good folks, if you try they will forgive you.” Daryl could see how watery Merle’s eyes look, a look he wasn’t sure he had seen before in his life.

“Your people here? They look at me like I’m the devil; grabbing up those love birds like that. And now you want to do the same damned thing!” Daryl watched his brother, he was hurting something bad, but he didn’t know what to do or say to reach him; he had never known. “Snatch up someone and deliver them to the Governor.”

Daryl shook his head softly, sadness permeating every movement he did. “You can’t do things on your own anymore, Merle.”

“Maybe your people needed someone like me here, someone to do the dirty job, someone to be the bad guy.”

“I just wanted my brother back,” Daryl said softly as he raised one of his hands and dropped it over Merle’s shoulder in a gesture he had been on the end of more than once from Connor. He squeezed his brother’s shoulder, trying with that small gesture let him know how he felt.  

“Get out of here, you pussy.” Merle barked at him as he turned, trying to hide the fact that Daryl knew he was trying to shield his feelings with aggression. He had done it more than once in his lifetime.

“Merle,” Daryl said as he stopped at the entrance, nor turning to look at his brother. “Connor and Murphy…” he stopped as he heard Merle moved at his back, “they might be my brothers, but they will never be you.” 

-.-.-.-.-

“Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day…” They could hear Hershel’s voice as it echoed through the cellblock.

Carol rested her head against Murphy’s shoulder where she was sitting in ground in the middle of the MacManus brothers, they were inside the ‘infirmary’ cell where Andrea was still passed out and little Judith was sleeping in her crib.

“Nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.” Murphy continued, drowning the voice of the older man.

“A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.” Connor joined in, grabbing Carol’s right hand as he finished the sentence lacing their fingers together.

“I’m worried,” Carol said softly as the three of them continued to hear Hershel read the psalm. “I can’t lose you.”

Murphy moved his arm so he could throw it over her shoulders, sharing a look with Connor over her head. Connor rested his head against her temple, and she felt safe, safe in the arms of two of her men. They heard Hershel stop reading, his voice lowering as he spoke to his daughters.

Carol wasn’t even a little bit surprised when her men continued from where he left of. “Because he cleaves to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will rescue him and honor him.” Carol let the entwined voices of her Irishmen fill her heart; they would protect each other, they would love each other, they would get through this for each other.

The not so quiet steps of their missing piece made them all look at the entrance of the cell, seeing the defeated look in his eyes as he looked down at them. Without saying a word, he got rid of his crossbow, kneeling first and then laying himself on his side draped over Murphy’s legs so he could rest his head in Carol’s lap.

Carol sighed softly as she rested her head against Murphy’s once again as she gently ran her hands through Daryl’s hair. Something was coming, and they all could feel it. 

.-.-.-

They stayed as they were for as long as they could. It wasn’t but maybe ten minutes later when life caught up to them once again. Not really wanting to, the four of them went to continue on their own tasks.

Carol was back to check on Andrea, Murphy and Carl were sent back to monitor the south tower, Connor to the main one while Daryl was due to his shift at the inner gate. The inside of the prison was loud once again when the rest of their group entered back, and Carol couldn’t help but miss the peace and quiet that for once had somewhat befallen onto their ‘home’.

“And you say there’s nothing going on between you two…” Carol couldn’t help but smile as she heard the raspy voice of Andrea say to her as she moved around the cell a few minutes later.

“And it isn’t.” At Andrea’s look Carol blushed madly, “it’s between the four of us.”

“Oh you didn’t…” Carol couldn’t help but giggle like a schoolgirl as she helped her friend move positions, trying to stifle her laugh as it would set her friend off as well and make her groan in pain. “They always do say, that it’s always the quiet ones.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.” Andrea grimaced as she tried to move her bandaged arm, grunting as the pain threatened to make her pass out. “Or as well as you are.”

“At least I’m back.” Carol passed her some pills, helping her with the bottle of water so she could swallow them. “How bad is it?”

“You got shot through the shoulder, Merle saw the Governor grab you and shot at him,” Carol grimaced as she said the words, “it was really far away, but at least he got the asshole to run away.”

Carol frowned as Andrea started to chuckle; at her friend’s confused face the blond woman explained. “Seems like karma, that I get shot by a Dixon.”

“Well, as Daryl might say… karma’s a bitch.”

.-.-.-.

Daryl paced in front of the inner gate without stopping. From there he could see Connor standing in one tower, with Murphy and Carl standing in the other. There was something coming, his bones ached and that was never a good thing in his book.

He was back counting his steps when he heard Rick come out for the first time. He looked from the side of his eye as the bearded man moved from the door that lead to one cell block, to another entering without saying anything but looking disgruntled. Daryl didn’t say a thing but kept that fact in mind. The second time it passed, Rick just looked even more desperate than the first.

“It’s off,” Daryl frowned as Rick said those words to him. What was he talking about?

“What’s wrong?”

Rick finally stopped moving, he took a deep breath before looking down. “I can’t find Merle or Michonne.”

“Son of a bitch!”

Daryl’s scream made both Connor and Murphy look from the watchtowers, watching as their younger brother took off towards inside the prison without waiting for Rick.

“Tyreese!” Connor yelled as he ran down the stairs, something was going down and he had to be there. The big man had been standing with his sister at the small enclosed space that led to their cell block, “take over man, emergency!”

He didn’t wait for the siblings to answer, he saw over his shoulder as Murphy ran out of the other tower, following his footsteps as fast as he could.

“Daryl!” Connor called out for his brother as he ran down the prison hallways, listening for Murphy’s steps as he did so. He was right behind him. “Mother fucker,” Connor muttered as they finally reached the generator room, panting as he watched Daryl kneel over what seemed to be a pillowcase?

“What the fuck happened?” Murphy said as he panted too at the door of the room, all of their eyes were on Daryl.

“Merle took Michonne.”

“What the fucking fuck?” Murphy’s voice was nothing but quiet.

Daryl threw a look at his brother before looking back at what was in front of him. “He took her here,” he threw away the pillowcase watching as bits of the phone cord fell from it.

“I’m going after him; I’ll bring them back.” Rick was barely two steps away when the MacManus’ were already flanking Daryl.

“You can’t track for shit, I’ll go.” Connor and Murphy looked at each other behind Daryl’s back; they knew their brother was not going to stay behind, and they weren’t going to let him go alone.

“Then the both of us will go.”

“Like fuck you will!” The two men turned to look at a glaring Murphy, whose eyes were on Rick.

“I say I’ll go, I’ll go.”

“Keep her safe?” Connor said to Murphy from where he had moved to stand at Daryl’s side.

“You know I will.”

“You’re not going,” Daryl said as he moved to open the door, not looking at his brother.

“The fuck I am.” Connor glared at Daryl as the younger man dared to grab his arm, trying to stop him from opening the door at their backs.

“He’s the stubbornest out of all of us, Decks.” They hadn’t paid any mind to Murphy, as he had moved to stand beside them. “He says it’s us, but he’s the biggest ass.”

“Daryl,” Connor said softly, looking to his brother in the eyes. “You are not alone, never again. You are not doing this on your own.” Daryl gave him a small nod, turning his eyes to look at Murphy where he stood.

Murphy walked tentatively closer to them. “I trust you to bring both of you back to us.” He said looking at Daryl.

Connor reached and put a hand on the back of Murphy’s neck, bringing the slightly smaller man closer and touching his forehead to his. “O Lord, be between us and harm and protect us from the harm of the world.” Murphy nodded as he let Connor’s words wash over him; they would be alright, they had to.

Daryl sighed, putting a hand on Murphy’s shoulder before looking over his brother’s shoulder to Rick. “Better get everything prepared for when we come back, even your family.” The way the archer said the last word to Rick sent chills down Murphy’s back, he was mad and if something happened there would be hell to pay.

.-.-.-

“What happened?” Carol asked the moment Murphy walked into the common area. He looked pale, and his eyes looked slightly red.

“Not here,” he said softly as he took her hand and guided her into the cell block. The place was almost empty, everyone out of there doing what they had been assigned to. Carol let him lead her into their cell, putting her arms around him as he hugged her close once inside.

“Merle took off with Michonne,” he almost whispered as he kept her close to him. He could feel the way her body tensed and he just hugged her closer. “Decks and Con went out to track them.”

Carol ran her hands up and down Murphy’s back, she knew what being left behind meant to him, but at the same time knowing the reasoning behind the decision was right. “They’ll come back.” Murphy let her words sweep into him, breathing her in to try calm himself down. “Connor would never let you keep the place on the bed without a fight, you know that.”

Murphy chuckled as he rested his cheek against the side of Carol’s face. She knew what to say to try and keep him from freaking out, they had barely been gone for less than half an hour and he was already getting angsty about them being outside of the fences.

“Daryl will take good care of him, they’ll have each other’s backs.”

“I know, I know,” he muttered as he continued to hug her to him, not feeling like letting go. “I trust them, and I trust that they’ll come back to us; the assholes won’t let me have all the fun.”

“I love you Murph.”

Carol closed her eyes, burrowing her face in Murphy’s neck after she muttered those words. She couldn’t believe she had said that, she just couldn’t. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel it, because she did. This man and his brothers had craved a place in her heart, and as fast as it seemed to have happened she knew it was true. What she felt for those three men, so different but on the inside so similar was unlike anything she had ever felt for anyone before. But it had just slipped.

“Are you sure?” He hadn’t moved them from their embrace, his face was burrowed in her gray curly hair as he felt her breathe against his neck. “Are you sure that’s what you’re feeling? I'm not him, so I would understand if you don't.  It's alright .”

Her silence made him anxious. It wasn’t like he didn’t believe in the possibility of love forming so fast, he knew love had no timelines but he just needed her to be sure. He was sure what he felt, but he needed  _ her _ to be sure too.

“Murph,” Carol said as she pulled away, looking up at him with tears in her eyes and a small smile on her face. One of her hands left his back and moved to cradle the side of his face. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

The smile that appeared on Murphy’s face was one she had never seen before, and she couldn’t help but let one blossom on her own. “Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.”

They both chuckled, their hearts filled with joy for at least a moment within their chaotic life. Murphy pulled her close once again, burrowing his face against her neck this time. “Declan is right my lady; you do play dirty… using the words of the almighty.”

“I do love you, Murphy MacManus.”

“And I love you, Carol…” Murphy made pause scrunching his nose as he tried to come up with something to follow up her name, “We need to get you a better last name.”

.-.-.-

“He went this way,” Daryl muttered as he stood up from where he was crouching down inspecting the marks left by his brother. “We’re an hour behind, at the most.”

“Let’s go then,” Connor answered as he looked nervously around. He thought he had been ready, but he hadn’t really. It wasn’t that he hadn’t killed his share of walkers while trying to make the prison a home for them, but the being out there, without the protection the fences gave them and with no idea of when they would be back had rattled his nerves a bit.

The two brothers moved in silence, Connor following Daryl. Their pace was unforgiving, and both men were slightly out of breath when they made a stop next. Daryl sighed, using his hand to cover his eyes from the sun as he looked across an empty field. “There,” he pointed to a place in the high grass that seemed bent in a different direction than the others. “They went that way.”

“You’re pretty good at this shit,” Connor muttered as the two of them started walking once again.

“Had to be,” Daryl said over his shoulder. “It was either that, or starving.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” The anger that Connor had pushed into the back of his mind over the whole situation started trying to bubble up into the surface. There had been more important things at the moment, to make Daryl feel wanted, to keep everyone alive… but these little tidbits were just piling up and this felt like the straw that broke the camel’s back.  

“Not your fault.”

“You have no idea,” Connor continued to talk as they walked, looking around them for threats. “How much I wish you would have been with us from the beginning, I’m so angry at Sibeal, I just can’t.”

“No.” Connor almost ran into Daryl’s back as his brother had stopped suddenly. “Just forget about it.”

“How can you ask me to do that?” Connor’s voice was getting higher and Daryl just looked at him silently. “Aren’t you mad?”

Daryl shrugged, before continuing on his way. The thing was, he couldn’t let himself be mad; he couldn’t let himself go down that path. If he did, if he started thinking about what could have been, what could have meant; he truly thinks it would be the thing to finally destroy him.

“Daryl…”

“Let it go, Connor.”

“No.”

Daryl grunted, not stopping, not even when Connor trotted to catch up to him. He glared at his brother when the Irishman stood in front of him to try and stop him.  

“Are you telling me, honestly telling me, you aren’t burning with anger over the fact that they separated you from us?”

“I am.” He couldn’t let himself be angry, so much shit had happened in his life; but if he thought about it with a clear head, he knew that everything that had happened to him had made him into the man he was today. He couldn’t let himself go down the rabbit’s hole, all he knew was that the past was the past, that he couldn’t change it… and that it was his past that had brought him to where he was right then; and he wasn’t sure he would change it if it meant losing what he had then.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Though luck, asshole.”

“Daryl…”

“Have you stopped and think,” Daryl had finally stopped, turning to Connor. “That if I hadn’t stayed with my mom, I would have never met my brother? That maybe we would have never been here? That we wouldn’t have met Carol?”

Daryl looked at Connor, nodding as he saw his brother finally come to the same realization he had a few days before.

Silently, they continued walking once more.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Carol threw a small smile to Murphy as she left him sitting in the ground with his back against the wall outside Andrea’s cell. He had been hanging around her, helping her with Judith and what needed to be done inside the cell block since the moment Connor and Daryl had left in search of Merle and Michonne, and no one had given him any shit for it.

It was obvious that he was anxious. She knew it was probably the first time Connor went off to do something dangerous without him by his side, the fact that he was with Daryl was something to be thankful for; but he was still away from his other half.

“Hey,” Carol whispered to Andrea as she made her way to her side. When Andrea had been brought in, Carol had honestly thought for a moment she had made it all the way back to them only to die. There had been so much blood. Apparently Merle had nicked something when he shot her. But she had regained consciousness not long after, and while she had spent most of the time falling in and out of sleep, Hershel thought she was going to make a full recovery. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like I got shot.” Carol rolled her eyes as she moved to help her sit up when she started to try and prop herself up. “How long was I out?”

“Couple of hours, not that long.”

“I’m starving,” Andrea muttered wincing as she moved her right shoulder.

“I’ll ask Murph to bring you something.”

Andrea stopped Carol with a hand around her wrist as she started to make her way towards the door of the cell.

“What’s wrong? You seem a lot less calm than usual…”

Carol sighed, letting Andrea pull her into sitting beside her in the cot letting her head hang as she looked down. “Apparently Rick told Merle about the plan to exchange Michonne for a free pass…” Carol turned to look at Andrea as she heard the younger woman’s breath hitch, “he ended up not wanting to do it, but Merle had already left without saying anything to anyone.”

“And Mich?” Her concern for her friend was evident in her voice. Carol smiled slightly at her friend, glad that the black woman had now someone else oh her corner.

“Daryl and Connor left about an hour ago to try and catch up with them…” Carol rested a hand on Andrea’s arm softly, “they’ll bring her back.”

“He’s going to kill them all…” there was authentic fear in Andrea’s eyes as she looked at Carol, moving to grasp the older woman’s hand with strength she didn’t know she still had. “He was going to ambush them, he’s going to kill them.”

“Are you sure?” Andrea tried not to jump at the unknown voice that spoke from the cell’s entrance. Her eyes moved to rest in the man that looked identical to Daryl, but that she had never properly met before.

“That’s why I ran away last night, because I had to warn you.” Murphy nodded solemnly, before giving Carol a look and moving away from the cell.

“I’ll be back, don’t worry we’ll make this right.” Carol said quickly to Andrea as she patted their joined hands, before running out of the cell to catch up with Murphy.

“You know where you’re going?” Carol asked as she moved to where they had the weapons stored, starting to load some of the guns so he could take with him.

“An old farm about 30 miles south,” Murphy muttered as he started throwing things into one of the bags that were lying around. “I’m taking one of the cars, keep my eyes out to see if I see the others.”

Carol followed him as he started making his way outside. Her hands were clammy, she wanted to offer going with him but at the same time she knew as good as she had gotten she was not yet ready for something like that.

Murphy opened the back door of the green car, throwing the bag in there before slamming the door harder than he needed to. He turned to look at Carlo, grabbing her hand and pulling her to him.

Carol let herself be brought in close, her lips immediately searching for his. The kiss was deeper than the other she had shared with Murphy, but she tried to put her feelings for him in it. “Please come back to me, bring all of you back to me,” Carol whispered as she caressed his cheek before using her same right hand to make the sign of the cross finishing with a quick peck on his lips.

“Nine lives, remember?” They shared a small smile before Carol turned and started running towards the inner gate. Murphy watched her go for a second before he took a deep breath, bracing himself to what was going to happen. He needed to get there in time, there was no other option.

When he approached the gate, Carol had already made Carl, who had been left manning the gate and the keys, be ready for him. With a wave to the young man, and a last long look to their woman Murphy peeled out of the prison. Maneuvering around the traps they had set in the morning had been a drag, but sooner than that he was on his way to his brothers. He was going to find them and bring all of them back.

.-.-.-

Connor hadn’t dared to say anything since their last conversation a good hour before. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it was that he had no idea what he could say that wouldn’t make the mess that was their lives even worse.

His anger hadn’t dissolved just because Daryl wasn’t angry. But he also knew there was no use for that anger. He could be angry at Sibeal, he could be angry at his father, he could be angry at the person that had birthed him… but nothing would change what had happened.

What was real, what was true, was that Daryl was his; and that was never going to change now.

“Hey!” Connor looked up as he heard Daryl yell, trotting to catch up as he saw his brother approaching Michonne as she stabbed a walker’s head with her katana. “Where’s my brother?”

The glare the younger woman gave them could have frozen any less courageous men.  Daryl slowed down as he got closer to her, and Connor didn’t stop until he was right behind his brother.

“You kill him?” Connor hated the way Daryl’s voice slightly broke as he made the question. He gripped the gun in his right hand tighter as he awaited the answer.

Michonne shook her head sadly, “he let me go.”

Connor put a hand on Daryl’s back, sighing when he felt his brother flinch. “Tell Murphy where we at,” Connor hurried to add as he saw Daryl open his mouth to say something.

“He has a car.” Michonne words as she two men started to walk pass her made them stop. “He threw me out of it a mile ago, that direction.”

Daryl nodded, starting on his relentless trotting pace. Connor gave Michonne a sad wave before running behind his brother, he sent a prayer to Saint Peter, patron saints of martyrs that they would get there on time.  

.-.-.-.-.

.-.-.-.-.

Murphy was anxiously tapping the wheel with his fingers as he drove towards the old farm. He was not being as fast as he wanted to, but he knew if he was going any faster the chance of him missing his siblings was greater.

And it was his siblings, plural, that he was out there for. Merle, as big of a jackass he was, was still blood… was still part of their family. He touched softly the scab on his cheek from his fight with his half-brother and chuckled. Their mother must have had a hell of a temper for her four sons to be so hot headed.

Also they needed Merle because he was important to Daryl. Something told him there was more to that relationship that they had known so far, mostly because of how much Carol seem to want to protect Daryl from Merle. But Merle was still someone Daryl loved, and he and Connor would do anything within their power to keep their youngest brother happy after all the shit they had all been through already.

Murphy chuckled to himself. For the first time in his life he was an older brother, it had been implied by what Merle had said on the day he had finally told them about the time they were born; and he hadn’t had the chance yet to use that against Daryl.

He was starting to speed up once again when he saw movement from the side of his eyes, hitting the brakes and skidding the car to a stop as he saw through the side mirror his brother’s appearing on the side of the road.

“We don’t have all day, move it you two!” Murphy yelled at them, his body half out of the car as he looked back at where the two other were standing a good 300 yards away. Murphy started to jump the passenger seat, just as Connor threw open the driver’s door and got inside.

“How?” Murphy just shrugged to his brother, grimacing when the older MacManus brought him in to kiss his forehead before looking at the back seat to make sure Daryl was already in. The archer nodded at him from where he was sitting in the middle of the two seats, grabbing into them as Connor speed out of there.

“Andrea told Carol that the motherfucker was going to ambush us,” Murphy started explaining, as he sat on his side so he could look at both Connor and Daryl as he did. “I knew I had to catch up with you two.”

“He let Michonne go,” Connor said as he threw Murphy a quick look before looking forward once again, his foot pushing the car to full throttle. “We ran into her, and she said he let her go. We told her to tell you to find us.”

“Turn here,” Daryl said strangely calm as he pointed at Connor where to turn, grabbing the seats as his brother barely slowed down to do so. “Is about five more miles.”

Daryl looked as Murphy crossed himself, and started muttering something under his breath. He allowed his brother’s mutterings to fill him and calm him down, he needed to have a cold head on his shoulders for what was about to come.

“Pass me the bag,” Murphy said after he finished whatever it was that he was praying, and Daryl complied to his orders. He accepted the rifle his brother passed him, and watched as Murphy nervously checked the guns he kept out for him and Connor.

They heard the shooting before they saw them.

“Christ!” Connor yelled as he hit on the brakes as he almost plowed over three walkers that were crossing the road to get to the farm just as he turned the car to the road leading to it. The walkers barely paid any attention to them, as the three of them hurried to get out.

Daryl used the knife he kept on himself at all times to kill them as he pointed at his brothers so the three of them could run towards where the shooting was coming from. The terrified screams of men were of no importance for the brothers at the moment, their only goal to find Merle in that mess.

Connor put Murphy in between him and Daryl, letting his youngest brother take his position as he maneuvered them through the place that was unknown to them.

“You leave him to me!” Daryl didn’t wait to see what his brothers would do, he knew that was the Governor, and he knew him had to mean Merle. He dashed his way from where they were crouching down to the bar, slamming the side door open without caring who heard.

They were still on the other side of the barn when he saw the Governor walk back up looking down at something, dread filled his chest and he just knew that they were too late.

“I ain’t gonna beg, I ain’t begging you!”

Daryl raised his rifle to shoot.

Someone screamed. 

.-.-.-.-.

The not knowing was killing Carol. There was a sensation at the back of her throat, that she knew was her stomach acid trying to see the light of day that she had been trying to fight ever since Murphy left with the sign of the cross and a mission in his eyes.

Carol rocked Judith as the baby started to fuss as she made her way outside. Everyone else had gone on their day as if nothing was happening and she didn’t know how to feel about that. The only one that seemed as affected as herself was Carl, the boy had kept to her side ever since watching Murphy leave the prison.

“He’s going to be alright,” Carl said softly to her as she sat in one of the benches they had outside, as he sat beside her. Rick had asked to talk to them, so they were all outside. Hershel and Beth were silently talking in one of the tables, as Ben tried to get Beth’s attention without her father’s eyes on him. Tyreese and Sasha were standing in the back, rifles at their backs ready for whatever this was. They were just waiting for Glenn, Maggie, and Rick.

Carol hummed her response, her eyes on the baby looking up at her. “She looks like you a little bit.”

“You think?” Carol loved those moments, when she got to see Carl the boy. He was in a way one of the last reminders of Sophia, the two of them had been friends at the beginning of it all; and she wanted him to be a kid as long as he could; but above all she wanted him to survive.

“Your nose looks the same.” Carol scrunched up her nose as she looked up at him, smiling when the boy giggled a little.

Their attention was called away as the last three members walked into the enclosed space. Carol immediately knew what it was all about, the look on Rick’s face not making it difficult for her to imagine.

“When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal…” Carol looked as Rick stopped to take a breath, his eyes shifting from person to person. “He said-- he said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne.”

Carol could feel as Carl tensed beside her, the boy moving slightly closer to her. She noticed too how Rick wasn’t looking at either of them. Good. He knew that out of all of them, the two of them were the ones most affected by his decision and he was ashamed, for Carol, that was the least that he deserved.

“And I was gonna do that... to keep us safe.” She tried not to scoff at his words, instead choosing to look down at his daughter and bounce her a little more. “I changed my mind. But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl, Connor, and Murphy went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late. I was wrong not to tell you. And I'm sorry.”

Carol didn’t look up. She couldn’t. She could feel people’s eyes on her and she was sure that the moment she saw pity in one of their eyes, she would break. She had to be strong, she couldn’t break. Not this time. She had no idea if her boys would be successful, she had no idea in what state they would all come back; she had to be ready for whatever happened; and she could not break.

She felt as Carl moved until he was sitting right at her side, and she turned to give him a sad smile. She had to be strong for her boys, she had to be strong for these kids. Rick had continued his monologue, and she had zoned him out; he was still not a man of honor on her mind, and he would probably never be. Not like her Daryl, not like her Connor, not like her Murphy.

“This is life and death. How you live... how you die-- it isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go. We choose to stay. We stick together. We vote. We can stay and we can fight or we can go.” Carol finally looked up as Rick stopped talking, looking at every face of the members of her family that were present. She could see some kind of pride in Hershel’s eyes, Beth looked at Rick with respect, and she felt like screaming.

He was too late. Yes, he had not gone through with it, but he had set something in motion that was endangering her family. Yes, they well all  _ a _ family but her boys were  _ her _ family. And they were out there, trying to right a wrong that in a way was partly his fault.

“I’m not voting.” Carol stood up walking up to Rick.

“It’s not like with Randall, Carol, I mean it when I say we all need to vote.”

“No…” Carol moved to pass baby Judith to Rick’s arms, not caring of the slight panic look he got in his face as she pushed the baby into this arms, “you misunderstand me, I’m not voting until the boys are back, and we’re not doing this until almost everyone is back.” She started to walk towards the inner gate, she’ll wait for them there; she could use the silence.

“Carol…” She stopped as he heard Rick’s voice behind her.

“No Rick, this is on you and you know it,” she said without turning back to look at the man that had called himself their leader, “you knew what you were asking Merle to do, and you knew he would do anything for his brother; you used that against him and now my family, my boys, are out there probably having to face that madman…” Carol had to stop to take a breath to try and keep herself from busting into tears. “We’ll wait until they’re back, you owe them the chance to vote as much as you owe it to everyone else.”

She started to walk once again not waiting for his answer. She looked at the clear sky asking the heavens to look after her boys, she asked Sophia to take care of them for her.

.-.-.-.-.-

The ringing in Daryl’s ears couldn’t let him think. He blinking as he saw the Governor sneer at them, clutching his right arm as he turned and fled from the barn. He was startled a moment later when Connor grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him towards the other side of the barn.

It was that which brought him out of the muffled state he had felt himself fall upon, shaking his head as he tried to get the ringing from both of his ears to go away. Swaying slightly as the room started to spin around him just before the sigh in front of them made him stop in his tracks.

“No,” it was barely above a whisper what left Daryl’s lips as he fell on his knees beside where Merle had fallen. “No!” His hands shook as he brought them to the middle of his brother’s chest, feeling the dizziness return as he saw the blood sweep through his fingers.

He felt as someone landed beside him, looking up only to see Murphy’s lips move but no sound come out of it. He saw and felt as his brother’s hands joined his over Merle’s chest, putting even more pressure on the bleeding wound on his chest.

Connor appeared on his sight too then, he was saying something but all that Daryl could hear was his ears ringing. He turned to look at Murphy, and he realized his brother was crying… and only then he noticed that his vision was blurry too.

“He’s losing too much blood.” Connor’s voice sounded far away, but at least he was able to hear him now. He hadn’t realized he hadn’t stopped repeating the word no since it had happened until then.

“Is he still breathing?” Murphy’s voice was breaking, and Daryl couldn’t bear to look to see. Their hands were still pressing onto their oldest brother’s chest. Daryl sniffed, taking off one of the hands and running it over his face trying to clear his vision.

He sat back onto his legs, the room was spinning once again. Everything moved in slow motion as he saw Murphy looked towards Merle’s face, which was pale with his eyes glossy; before his brother got back into his knees and started doing chest compressions.

“Fuck you, Merle.” Murphy said as he panted, compressing their brother’s chest once again. “Fuck you.”

Daryl looked down to see his bloody hands, he could barely see because of the tears that were running down his face. He felt like he couldn’t breath as he tried not to start sobbing, as he watched as Murphy continued his ministrations.

“Murph,” it was Connor who finally spoke up.

“No.” Murphy shook his head as he continued doing CPR.

“Murphy.”

Daryl started sobbing as Murphy turned to look at him, he pushed away Murphy’s hand as the other man tried to touch him.

“No, no, no, no.” Connor couldn’t do anything but watch as his youngest brother muttered those words over and over again as he moved to rest his head against their brother’s unmoving chest. Murphy was sitting back on his legs, his hands twitching to move and touch Daryl but at the same time afraid of what the younger man’s reaction would be.

Connor moved his hand to close Merle’s unseeing eyes, closing his own and sighing as he did so.  He looked at Murphy, who had his eyes on the back of Daryl’s head where he had his forehead against the mess that was Merle’s chest and started on his own.

“And shepherds we shall be,” his heart broke as he heard Daryl start to sob even harder, Murphy was shaking his head side to side as tears kept on falling down his cheeks.

“For thee, my Lord, for thee.” Connor looked at Murphy with worry as he heard his brother choke slightly while trying to take a breath in, “power hath descended forth from Thy hand.”

Connor moved his hand slowly until he rested against Daryl’s head, his brother was still sobbing but at least his breathing was slightly more controlled. “That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command.” Murphy and Connor’s eyes met as the middle sibling was finally able to join in.

“So we shall flow a river forth to Thee.” Daryl raised from where he had been lying against his brother’s chest, his eyes seeking Connor’s across from him. “And Teeming with souls shall it ever be.” Connor’s hand was now resting against the side of his neck, as he felt Murphy move until they were side to side.

“In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti.” Daryl joined in softly at the end of the prayer. Silence followed their words, and the three remaining siblings felt as if the world was falling upon them.

“We need to go,” Connor said as he looked towards the open barn door, twitching as he heard the sounds of walkers outside the walls. “The blood will bring them here.”

Murphy nodded, sighing as he looked to Daryl whose eyes were back fixed on the body between them. “We’ll take him back with us,” he said softly as he moved to wrap his arm around him.

Daryl nodded, wincing as the room yet again started spinning. He slumped slightly onto Murphy’s side, making his brother turned worried to look at him.

“The guns,” Daryl muttered as he tried to incorporate, “when you fired.”

“We fired right by your ears.” Connor muttered as he moved to stand up, starting to look around for something to wrap Merle’s body in.

“Sorry,” Murphy muttered as he moved to stand too, letting go of Daryl as he pulled away but staying close in case he got dizzy again. “You hearing alright?”

Daryl shrugged. He wasn’t really, his hearing was not completely back but he could half guess what his siblings were saying. He felt his breath hitch again as he looked down at Merle’s body. His brother was dead; his big brother was dead.

He felt Murphy’s arm around his shoulder just before his tears started again. His identical brother using it to bring him close and letting hide his face against his neck as his sobbing started once again. He moved his arms to wrap them around his brother’s back, fisting the back of his shirt as if to not let go.

Connor watched, sighing as he felt tears burning in his eyes at the scene in front of him. They had failed, they hadn’t been able to save the only person from Daryl’s past that he had loved. To see his brother in that state hurt, and it hurt like almost nothing before.

He had found an old tarp, he extended it over the floor and as he was getting ready to wrap it around the body, it was then when he noticed the changes. Merle’s skin had started to crack, his previously white skin had started to get a certain weird color as did the blood around him.

“Daryl,” Connor said as he looked down at the prone body changing right in front of his eyes. His brothers didn’t pay mind to him and he had to try again, “Daryl.”

Finally Murphy seemed to have heard him, pulling away from the embrace he was in and in turn making Daryl pay mind to Connor.

“There’s something weird going on,” Connor’s eyes were still on the body, as if expecting it to rise in front of them at any given moment.

Daryl closed his eyes once again and sighed. With a pained grunt he dropped himself back into his knees, pulling out his knife from his scabbard at his hip. Both Connor and Murphy looked in silence as he seemed to be doing his own private prayer, as he moved until he was putting his forehead against Merle’s, before plunging his knife into his temple.

The sound was horrific in the silent barn, and they were both surprised when Daryl was no longer crying as he sat back.

As Connor moved to wrap the body, Murphy took a stand behind the kneeling form of Daryl. He had a hand on his brother’s shoulder, as they he watched Connor work. It wasn’t that long after when Merle’s body was no longer visible, but Daryl still knelt there.

“Daryl,” Murphy said softly as he watched Connor crouch slightly to be able to get hold of Merle’s body and put him in a fireman's carry. Daryl didn’t answer. “Decks, we have to go.”

Connor gave Murphy a look as Daryl continued to kneel there, looking down at the mess that had been left behind. There was blood everywhere, as well as all over them. “Daryl,” Murphy tried again as he knelt at Daryl’s side, moving into the younger brother eyesight to try and get him to respond.

He finally caught his eyes, and he felt crying when he realized he was non responsive. “Hey Decks,” Murphy said softly as he put a hand on his brother’s cheek, patting it lightly to try and get some kind of reaction out of him. “We need to leave, brother, we need to get back home.”

Connor looked from where he was standing a few feet away, a sad smile on his face. Murphy was being as careful as he had ever seen him, and his heart broke even more for Daryl as he saw Murphy drag him up and wrap an arm around his back as if to keep him upright. He still had no idea what had happened, but Daryl although heartbroken had been alright until he had plunged the knife into Merle’s head.

He signaled to Murphy to follow him, and quietly they two of them made their way across the farm with their precious cargo. Luck was on their side for once, since all of the walkers were busy on the other side of the building they managed to get all the way to the car without further problems.

On the way back to the prison no words were exchanged.

.-.-.-.

Carol had been there to open the gate for Michonne. At least an hour had passed since Rick had given his speech and she was still not moving from her sitting position close to the inner gate. She had to be there when they got back, there was no other option.

The arrival of the woman had made Carol start dreading the worse. Michonne had told her about what had happened, Merle’s change of heart and her encounter with Connor and Daryl. That placed them close to the farm a little over an hour ago, they should not be long then.

Her heart hurt at the thought of what her boys were going through. The thought of Daryl losing Merle, or them losing each other was too much for her already fragile heart. She had spied Rick looking at her as he kept watch, and she had pretended not to see him. He was a problem she would deal with later, her boys were first; and they always would be.

Carl had joined her not to long after, sitting silently beside her as they waited. She had allowed herself a little comfort in the way of a side hug to the boy, kissing the top of his head as he had rested it against her shoulder.

The sound of a car approaching had both of them on their feet in a second, both craning their necks to try and see if it was the green car Murphy had taken the one driving down the road. When Carol saw that it was indeed the car, something in her heart loosened a little bit. They were back, not she just hoped all of them were back.

She signaled to Carl to start making noise to attract the walkers away from the door, running to open and then close the gate as soon as the car was through. As soon as she made sure the lock was back on, she turned to look at the vehicle.

She had seen Connor in the front seat, but she hadn’t seen the others. Connor was the first one to get out of the car, and his eyes said everything she needed to know. He shook his head slightly when their eyes connected, and it seemed like a few tears had started to fall down his cheeks.

Murphy was the next one to get out of the car. He got out from the back, not looking up as he looked down inside the car as soon as he was out. Carol made her way to him slowly, one of her hands clutching the front of her blouse, as if that would keep her heart from breaking.

“Come on Decks,” Murphy murmured as he crouched down to look up at where Daryl was half sitting half lying down in the back seat. “Let’s get you out of here.” His voice was soft, and his movement perfectly telegraphed as he moved to pull Daryl’s arm around his shoulder, pulling the heavier man out of the car.

Carol moved a hand to her mouth, trying to silence the gasp that left her mouth as she saw the complete blankness in Daryl’s face. He was completely out of it, his face, front and arms smeared with blood. Her eyes immediately sought Connor’s and at his look she knew for sure what had happened.

Merle Dixon was dead.

“Hey Daryl,” her voice was soft as she made her way to Murphy’s side. She moved one of her hands to grab one of Murphy’s squeezing it lightly before she reached with the other for Daryl. “Let’s get you cleaned up, alright love?”

Murphy saw as Carol grabbed one Daryl’s hands, not caring about the blood in them and pulled him lightly towards her. Daryl shook his head, as if finally realizing that he was somewhere else and straighten up slightly. With a sad smile Carol pulled him towards her, and the MacManus saw with a sad smile as Carol got the remaining Dixon to follow.

“Is he dead?” Carl’s voice made the brothers turned around from watching the other half of their family leave, to look at the boy with identical puzzled looks. “Merle?”

Connor closed his eyes, sighing before he nodded. Murphy pulled the boy into a hug, knowing he needed it a lot more than the boy would. Connor moved until he was standing next to Murphy, looking as Carol opened the door that would lead them into their cellblock still pulling a silent Daryl behind her.

“We need to bury him.”

“I’ll get the shovels.”

.-.-.-.

She was unnerved by his silence. It wasn’t like he was the loudest of them all, that honor was Murphy’s closely followed by Connor, but he wasn’t this type of silent. He followed her without complaints, and she glared at whoever dared to look their way as she led him to their cell. She wanted him in a safe place, she wanted in a place he knew he was loved and would be taken care of.

Once inside their cell, she made him sit on their bucket. His whole front, from head to toe was all bloody, and that was her first priority. He didn’t need the reminder of his brother’s blood all over him, in fact that was the last thing he needed. She turned her back to him, gathering whatever dirty clothes she could get, together with a couple of water bottles they kept there before she turned to look at him again. She had expected him to have moved, but he was exactly in the same position she had put him before, like a mannequin she could put in whatever position she wanted him to.

“I’m going to clean you up, sweetheart.” She felt the need to explain everything to him, just in case he wasn’t all there. She poured some of the water on a shirt she recognized as hers, before approaching him once more. Softly she grasped his chin, tilting his face up so she could look at him.

“My heart hurts for you, love.” She started cleaning the blood, starting by his forehead. “I’m sorry this is happening to you, I would do anything to stop bad things from happening to you.” She continued talking softly to him as she cleaned him, first his face so there was not a spec of blood left on it, paying extra attention to his beard and neck. Then she moved to his hands, his fingers and his nails.

“I’m going to help you take this off, alright darling?” The first reaction she got from him was at that moment, when she moved to put his vest off. He made a slight whining sound that brought tears into her eyes. “It’s okay, love.” She ran her hands through his hair softly, standing between his legs and pushing his face into her stomach, “it’s alright.”

When the sounds stopped she slowly pulled back and finished with his vest. Then looking down she started undoing the buttons of his shirt. She knew what was under that shirt, she had seen it before and she was had no other thoughts in her head at the moment other than the need to get him clean and away from the constant reminder of his brother’s blood on him.

“Carol,” he whispered her name, hiding his face against her stomach when she moved closer to rid him of his long sleeved shirt.

Carol didn’t know what to say to him, so she did the only thing she knew. She comforted him with actions- she put her arms around his shoulders pushing his face closer to her. She dropped her face into his hair as she finally felt him react and put his arms around her.

She had no idea how long they stood like that. Him half naked wanting to hide inside of her. For him, she was warmth and love; exactly the contrast to what he felt at the moment. “Hey,” her soft voice together with the touch to his neck made him look up to her smiling face, “welcome back.”

Daryl just blinked back the tears that threatened to take over him once again, and Carol understood. He couldn’t speak, he didn’t even know what he was feeling right then. But she was there, and they had never needed words to get each other.

She was doing everything slowly, as if he was a spooked animal that would run away at the first sudden movement. Which wasn’t that far off when it came to Daryl Dixon. He was more responsive now, as she moved to clean the blood that had soaked through his vest and shirt.

When she was done, she made him sit in her bed while she moved the mattress they had shoved into the wall back onto the floor of the cell. Daryl blinked slowly when he saw her move, shaking his head lightly as she moved and started tugging at the mattress of the bed  _ he _ had been using since he had gotten back, blinking as it dropped and the sound sounded muffled. He continued to watch her as she pulled the blankets and linens they had been using lately and turned the floor of their cell into a bed.

“Come here,” he knew what she was saying more based on her facial expression than what she was saying, but he understood the meaning. She had her hand extended, and he took a deep breath before engulfing her small hand in his. She pulled him until he was kneeling with her in the middle of the make-up bed following her when she laid down on  it.

For that moment Daryl pushed everything else away. He let her presence surround him, he allowed her to make him feel safe and loved. He moved until his face was lying in the middle of her chest, her heartbeat against his ear. She was running her hands through his hair, and he didn’t realize he was crying until he noticed the dark spots on her clothes. But he didn’t care, not if it was her.

When the MacManus men finally got to their cell, Merle’s grave having been dug, his body put away so they could give him a proper burial the next morning, and all proof of what had happened earlier that day was gone from their bodies.

The picture that they found when they arrived was a better one than they had hoped. Carol and Daryl were lying in the middle of the floor of their cell, with Daryl lying partly over Carol as she hugged him to her, his head resting on her breast with his eyes closed. She had an arm around his shoulders, keeping him close running a hand up and down his back under the blanket she had draped around him.

Carol looked at them, tears in her eyes as they entered. Silently the brothers moved to divest themselves of their own clothes, before they laid down one at each of their sides. Murphy moved until he was lying on his side resting his forehead against Carol’s temple, his arm thrown slowly over Daryl’s shoulders cocooning him even more between them.  

Connor moved to lay at Daryl’s back. It wasn’t until Daryl started fighting to get his arm outside of the blankets which were keeping him warm that Connor realized  the space he had left between his bare chest and his brother’s back was not necessary. As Daryl moved his hand back seeking him, Connor moved until he was lying his forehead against the middle of Daryl’s shoulder blades, his arm over his brother’s waist until he realized he was able to grasp Murphy’s arm where it was thrown over Carol.

Daryl’s breathing finally started to even out after a few minutes. He was warm, he was protected, he was loved.  They were together and they were ready for whatever life threw at them. They loved each other, and nothing would tear them apart.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... so? What ya guys think? 
> 
> This was probably my favorite chapter to write so far. I got so sad when the thing happened, really... hope I was able to make it as heartbreaking as I originally intended. One more to go, I can't believe it really... this won't mean the end though, just the end of season 3 rewrite. 
> 
> Also, I have to give a special mention to killerchickadee cause there was a line that was inspired by one of their tags... Merle is an asshole, but he's our asshole... something along those lines... 
> 
> I'm gonna miss that guy
> 
> Thank you once more to everyone who has left comments, kudos or that have reached to me through Tumblr. You have no idea what all that means to me.


	15. Welcome to the Tombs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys... I'm really sorry about not sticking to schedule. Two weeks ago today my grandmother passed away, and that meant I had to flight halfway across the country for her wake and all that it entails. I was swamped with RL stuff all last week.. but it's finally here! I'm so excited for you guys to read it, please let me know what you all think.

Chapter XV

Welcome to the Tombs.

 

The first thing Daryl realized when he woke up was that he was warm. The weather had started to get colder in the last few days, ever since they had arrived to the prison really; and he had woken up cold ever since they had gotten back from his trip with Merle.

But he was warm and his breathing started to speed up as he realized that he couldn’t really move and it wasn’t until he felt a gentle hand run through his hair that he remembered where he was. He was in Carol’s arms, he was back at the prison, he was with his brothers, he wasn’t alone.

He didn’t try to move. He knew, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn’t allow this; it would only bring him more pain later on, but for once he ignored the it. Merle was dead, he was never coming back and he was the last Dixon standing. But he wasn’t alone; for the first time in his life since his mother’s death he had someone’s gentle touch, and someone’s arms to take the load off. And he was not letting them go, ever.

“I know you’re awake.” Daryl kept his eyes closed when he felt Carol’s breath against his hair as she whispered to him. He just grunted as he moved to breathe in  even more of her scent, only then noticing that his head was in fact lying over her breasts. “Don’t you dare move.”

He hadn’t realized he had started to tense, letting out a sigh as he molded his body more into her side. “Thank you,” he said softly as her hand went back to caress his hair, he opened his eyes and looked up moving slightly when he felt her tug at one of the strands lightly.

“Nothing to thank me for…” her eyes showed so much tenderness and love and Daryl just couldn’t help himself. No, that wasn’t it… it wasn’t that he couldn’t help himself, it was that he stopped himself from stopping, if that made any kind of sense. He grunted lightly as he moved the dead weight that was Connor against his back so he could rise slightly and reach Carol’s face.

She looked confused as she looked up at him, her eyes going from his eyes to his lips and back to his eyes fast enough that at another time he might have missed it. His overgrown bangs brushed her forehead as he looked down at her blue eyes; he was sure he was blushing from head to toe but he slowly lowered himself before he lost his courage.

The smile that he got a glimpse of as he finally closed the gap between them was all the encouragement he needed. He would have been lying if he said he had never imagined what kissing Carol would feel like, but he wouldn’t be lying if he said that it was better than anything he had ever imagined.

Her lips were soft, although chapped from the cold. It was nothing more than a peck, shy and tentative, but the he could feel his heart beating like he had just been chased by a herd… and the only safe place was between her arms. He smiled down at her, chuckling when the hand that had never moved from his hair pulled him closer so they could kiss again.

“Fucking finally,” a rough from sleep voice said as they came up for air after a few more kisses. Daryl blushed more, a feat that he had thought impossible at that point, as he turned and saw Murphy looking at both of them resting his head against his fist while he laid on Carol’s other side. There was something in his face, Daryl wasn’t exactly sure what it was. But his smile was genuine, there was nothing but love and affection in the way Murphy looked at the two of them, and Daryl couldn’t help but return the smile.

“Do you have to be such a fucking cockblocker, Murph?” Carol couldn’t help but giggle when Daryl started coughing as if he was choking as he moved to hide his face in her neck, shaking her head while Connor’s eyes met hers over Daryl’s head. Her boys had kept their promise; they came back to her… they were hers.

.-.-.-.-.-

Rick watched as Carl moved to Carol’s side as soon as she and the three men walked into what was being used as their common area of some sorts.

Hershel had told him to leave Daryl alone that morning.  He had wanted to wake the older man as soon as light had hit the sky to try and come up with a plan to protect themselves from the onslaught that was sure to be coming their way.

But Hershel had stopped him. His eyes narrowed when he saw Carl smile up at Murphy as the Irishman threw an arm around his son's shoulders and pulled him into a half hug; and Carl allowed it.

His relationship with his son had been strained since the day Lori had died. He had tried. He truly believed so, but each time he approached his boy he was met with a blank stare and a calm exterior.  To see his son, his sweet boy so open with his affection to not only Carol but the three other men, made him feel like someone was stabbing him in the chest.  He would take care of it, he would get his son back… but first he had to keep them all alive.

Hershel tried not to be very obvious to it. But the fact that Carol had caught his eye more than once made him realise he wasn't being as sneaky as he thought he was. Something had changed in Daryl Dixon the night before, and it wasn't just the fact that his older brother had passed away.  

He watched as the archer leaned slightly so his arm was brushing Carol’s as he ate; or the way he kept eye contact with Connor as he spoke to him, or as he didn't flinch when Murphy had thrown an arm around his back. He had finally let himself accept what Hershel had seen since the farm with Carol last year… he was letting himself be loved.

“Are you nervous. Daddy?” Beth’s  voice startled him out of his thoughts,  and he had the sense of blushing lightly when Carol raised an eyebrow as she caught his eye yet again.

“No Bethie, I'm not.” He knew the Almighty would protect them, they had good people among their midst… He owed them one for once.

Everyone's attention was back on the brothers as they all stood up, leaving their dirty dishes behind as they started to move out.

“We need to start getting ready.” Rick didn't notice the glare his son sent to him, his eyes on Daryl. “The Governor will not let what happened go.”

Rick was too much inside of his own head to notice the glares he was on the receiving end of from the people around Daryl.

The archer let out a sigh, and started to nod although everyone could see that he was just going through the motion.

“And we will…” it was Carol’s voice that rang out, as she moved to stand next to Daryl. Hershel noticed that her hand had moved and the two of them were holding hands, and he couldn't help but smile slightly at the realisation.  “But we have something important to do first.”

Rick opened his mouth to argue, and Hershel knew he had to intervene before the young man got a taste of what it was to be on the receiving end of the people that held Daryl dearest to them.

“Do you need this?” Hershel asked Connor, as he patted the bible that was almost never far from him nowadays.

“No need, old man…” there wasn’t any bite in Connor’s words, a certain amount of endearment in the words instead. “We got what we need here,” he said tapping the side of his head with a finger. Hershel threw a look at Rick as he watched the former deputy observe as the foursome left the cellblock.

The door slammed behind them and it was as if everyone only then remembered the work they still had to do. The end of this fight was imminent, and they needed to be prepared.  

-.-.-

Carol watched as Daryl refused help as he threw Merle’s body over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Murphy stood next to her, putting his big hand in hers and squeezing lightly while the three of them started following Daryl down the path that would lead them to Merle’s final resting place.

Connor was fast to keep up with Daryl’s steps as he helped him keep his balance when he stumbled slightly just as they reached the inner gate. Carol was happy to notice that he didn’t pull away from Connor, that he didn’t flinch at the feeling of his brother’s hand on his shoulder; and she thanked God for small miracles.

She felt Murphy squeeze her hand one more time before the two of them separated. She went to her task of opening the fence, while Murphy went the other way to make noise to attract the walkers away from her. They knew it was stupid to do this now, that the yard was filled with walkers, but they needed to, Daryl needed to be able to put his brother to rest.

There was not much talking after that. The three of them moved around Daryl as he made his way to where they had dug the grave the night before, and using the fact that the land was uneven they took care of the walkers that tried to approach them as Daryl covered Merle’s grave with the earth from the pile next to it.

It didn’t take more than five minutes. Daryl had certainly worked fast, and Carol tried not to jump as Daryl appeared right beside her to take care of a walker that she was just preparing to take on. “Let’s go.”

Carol threw a look at Connor and Murphy, glad to see that the two of them were right behind them as they started to make their way back into the prison. No words were shared, the only sounds that she could hear were the moans of the walkers and the grunts of her boys as they killed those that got too close to comfort.

They were all splattered with walker blood as they finally made their way inside the fence, the four of them breathing hard as they rested against each other panting hard.

“The asshole would have gotten a kick out of knowing how hard it was to do that,” Daryl muttered as he moved to sit on the step leading to the higher ground on the side, allowing himself to rest slightly against Carol as she sat beside him.

“He really would have,” she said softly as she grabbed his hand, not caring about the fact that both of them were covered with walkers’ blood and guts. With a sigh, she rested her head on his shoulder smiling to Connor as she felt Daryl rest his head against hers.

“He really was an asshole,” Murphy muttered as he went to sit at Daryl’s other side. Connor couldn’t help but smile sadly as he saw his brothers sitting together side by side. Like it should have been from the beginning.

But Daryl was right, there was no use in wondering about the past. The present was there, right in front of him; and hopefully his future too. Everything for him was in the three people sitting in front of him, and he was not going to let them down, ever again.

“You know…” Daryl said looking up at Connor from where he was resting his cheek against the crown of Carol’s head, “Merle never did something like that his whole life.”

Connor nodded, crouching so he was balancing using Daryl’s knees. “He gave us a chance…”

Daryl’s eyes were on the hand that Connor put on top of where Daryl had his grasping Carol’s. A moment later Murphy’s ‘Aequitas’ tattoo appeared within his eyesight. The weight of the four hands felt right to him, it felt like that was the way it supposed to always have been.

The sound of the door opening behind them made them all look over their shoulders, and Daryl couldn’t help but despise Rick a little as he strutted his way towards them as their hands pulled away. It was time to go back to reality; it was time to return to their own hell on earth and try and pull through. He shot a look at Connor, finding him looking right back at him. The look in his brother’s eyes was probably the same he had in his- they would make sure the four of them made it through. They had to.

“The plan is set.” Rick started talking as soon as he joined them, his eyes not even noticing what was right in front of him. “We’re starting to move everyone in a few minutes.”

“And what is that plan exactly Grimes?” Daryl threw a look at Murphy where he was still sitting beside him. His brother wasn’t the biggest Rick fan, but the last thing they needed right then was to be at each other’s throats.

“We voted last night…” Rick avoided Carol’s eyes as she glared up at him, “even with you voting the decision would have been made, we’re defending the prison.”

“Good,” Daryl muttered as he nodded.

Carol watched as Daryl’s observant eyes seemed to capture every detail of the Rick Grimes standing before them. He was still not completely there, he hadn’t been since the death of Lori eleven days ago; his eyes would shift once in a while to a point where he seemed to see something no one else was able to, and that frightened her a little.

 

“We will use the system you two came up with…” Rick was on full on leader mode, and as much as he seemed to strike out as much as he actually hit, he seemed to be onto something good this time. “We will lure them inside, most of their people will probably not be well trained.”

“Merle took out a lot of them; most of their trained people were probably there yesterday to take us out.” Daryl threw Carol a small smile as he felt her squeeze the hand he had yet to let go of, she was there with him and he had no words to tell her how much that meant.

The sound of the rest of their family coming out through the door made them stop for a moment. Murphy’s eyes followed Carl as the young boy looked his age for once. The pout on his face reminding them all how young he actually was.

Rick tried not to feel the slight burn of hatred as he watched as Carl made his way around him to sit beside Murphy, letting the Irishman put an arm around his shoulder and pull him close in a half hug. He was supposed to be the one that was close to his son, he was supposed to be the one in Murphy MacManus’ position.

“He told you his plan yet?” Carl asked as he rested against Murphy’s side, trying to avoid looking at his father.

“Not yet.”

Carl shrugged, cocking his head as he noticed Carol’s and Daryl’s joint hands. He looked up at Murphy, eyebrow raised; to which Murphy only grinned in response as he realized what he had noticed at once.

“We will divide into groups…” Rick continued once everyone was standing and sitting around him.

“The main idea is to lure them into the tombs, and use the electronic locks to unleash the walkers on them.”

“We create panic.”

“Exactly,” Rick said nodding at Daryl as if validating his comment. “We have some of the flash grenades, and with the walkers I’m sure it will make them get the hell out of our home as fast as they came in.”

“We can’t kill them,” Murphy muttered, looking at everyone on the eyes as they all turn to look at him; reminding them with that simple fact that he was actually not Daryl. “Most of them have no idea how bonkers that motherfucker is.”

“Glenn and Sasha,” he pointed at the two of them, “I want both of you in that swat gear we found, and up there hidden behind the metal plates, when they start running out you will finish the job… you’ll chase them away making them think you’re shooting at them.”

“If you get the Governor on your sight, you shoot him.” All the eyes went to Connor, who was standing next to Rick.

“Son-“

 

“Sorry old man,” Connor interrupted Hershel before he could continue, “I truly believe in forgiveness, but there are people out there, they have always existed, that are too far gone for it.” His eyes moved to Daryl, Murphy and Carol quickly before returning to look at Hershel. “And I’m not willing to give him yet another chance to hurt my family.”

Rick nodded, sharing a look of understanding with the oldest MacManus. They would end this today, once and for all. “Daryl, Connor, Murphy and I, we will go to the tombs and ambush them.”

“Carol and Maggie, you two will be in charge of setting off the alarms and opening the electronic locks. Glenn and Sasha, you already know what you’ll be doing.”

“What about me?” Carl asked just before Rick could speak again. “I’m a good shot, I can do my part.”

“No,” Rick said as he shook his head.

“But dad,” Carl said as he stood up taking a step towards his father.

“No!” Rick’s voice was slightly higher as he shook his head once again as he looked down at his son. “You are going with Hershel, Beth, Tyreese and Andrea to the woods. You will all come back once this is done.”

“I can help.”

“No, Carl.”

“But dad-“

“I said no!” Carl flinched and took a step back as Rick snapped at him. Everyone around them was quiet as they watched the scene unfold.

Connor shook his head while he looked at Murphy as he saw his brother open his mouth to intervene. This was not his business; as much as he had come to care for the boy in the last week and a half, this was something between father and son.

“I can help.” There was something in Carl’s voice that didn’t settle well with Murphy, and he was definitely not going to let that boy go anywhere until he talked with him about that.

“And what I need is for you to be safe. We don’t need your help.”

Murphy could see that Carl was fuming, he was glaring at his dad in a way that would have Connor or him deserving of a good thrashing if they had ever looked at their mother like that. He watched as Carol stopped herself from reaching for the boy, her mother instincts telling her the boy needed comfort more than anything.  He wanted to reach across Daryl and touch her, remind her that even if her little girl wasn’t right there with her, she was still a mother to the two children within their midst.

“I don’t think we have much time left, we need them to believe we left so we need to move everything to solitary and make it seem like we’re gone.”

“We need to prepare emergency bags, just in case this doesn’t work.” It was Tyreese who raised his voice at that, and no one could say he was wrong in erring on the side of cautious.

“You’re right,” Rick said as he looked at the taller man, “Carol,” his blue eyes found hers and she couldn’t help but feel like she was seeing into the eyes of a stranger. “Can you prepare the bags? You know where everything is, and what we can split.”

Her nod was all the confirmation he needed before he moved onto giving more orders.

Daryl knew what he was supposed to do, so he used those moments to look at the people around him. He brushed his thumb over Carol’s where they still had their hands clasped, as if reminding himself that he was still able to, that it wasn’t just in his head. He could feel the weight of Murphy against his side; and he could easily look up and meet Connor’s eyes. He wasn’t alone, he wasn’t expendable, he had people to fight for now more than ever.

He was brought out of his thoughts as Carol stood up at his side. With a heavy heart he let her hand go as she threw a look over her shoulder as she started making her way inside pulling Beth and Judith along.

“I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave.” Murphy muttered biting his lip as his eyes followed Carol while she walked away. Daryl couldn’t help but nod in agreement as his face flushed red as his eyes did the same.

He didn’t seem to realize what he had done until after he realized Connor had started snickering in front of him. “Stop.”

-.-.-.-

“Are you ready to go?” Murphy asked Carl as he rested his hands against the bars outside the boy’s room, peering inside. Carl had barely said a word since they all had gone off to do their different task a little over an hour ago. He was still silently fuming, every single one of his mannerism screaming anger.

He refused to answer, putting what was left of his things into the paper bag he had been given for that purpose.

“Are you seriously giving me the ice treatment?” Silence was all that followed Murphy’s words. Carl huffed as he finished packing his things, taking the backpack at his feet before standing up and starting to move out of the cell. Murphy’s body covering the ‘door’ made him stop in his tracks.

“Move,” Carl said calmly.

“Look everybody! He talks!”

Murphy tried not to smile at the annoyed look the boy gave him, but it didn’t seem to work really well since the annoyed look turned into a glare as Carl noticed his amusement.

“Move Murphy.”

“Not before we have a small chat, lad.”

“There’s nothing to say.”

“I think there is.” Murphy put a hand on Carl’s shoulder, pushing the boy back until he was sitting again in his bed; as he crouched down so he was looking up at the young man. “He needs to know you are safe.”

Murphy wasn’t surprised when those words were answered with a scoff and a glare; Carl wasn’t his father’s number one fan at the moment.

“He does, he needs to know you and Judy are away from here; that the two of you, together with Beth, Hershel and Andrea are away from danger and protected.”

“He doesn’t care; he just wants to send me away.” Murphy felt his heart break even more for his little friend, he had gone through so much in so little time.  

“Carl,” Murphy said before grunting as he stood from his crouch to sit beside the boy in the bed. “He cares; he wants you away from danger.”

“How could you know what he wants? He just wants to send me away because he thinks I’m weak.”

“Lad, come on…” Murphy said as he moved to sit sideways so he could try and get Carl to look at him. “He’s your dad, he just wants what’s best for you and your sister.”

“I can help protect this place, this is our home.” Carl’s eyes were filled with tears, and Murphy had to keep himself from hugging the boy to him. He needed him to understand what was going on, before he could allow that.

“It is,” Murphy nodded, “but it’s also important to keep those that can’t help themselves safe. We need to know the most vulnerable- Judy, Beth, Hershel, Andrea- that they’re all safe and sound away from here. We need not to worry about them for the time it takes us to defend our home.”

“I know what you’re trying to do, you’re trying to placate me, I’m a kid but I’m not stupid.” Carl was glaring at Murphy as he said that, muttering the last part as he lowered his eyes letting his hat cover his face.

“Do you think I trust Tyreese with them? The man can barely handle a gun without shaking at the thought of hurting a person… he can barely kill walkers as we speak.” Carl had moved his head  a little bit, so Murphy was able to get a glimpse of his eyes under the rim of the hat. “The truth is, we have enough people here, but we need people out there too.”

Murphy took a deep breath before continuing. “What if this doesn’t work? What if we all die and we left the group out there without means to take care of themselves? Hershel can’t really do anything on those crutches, Andrea is still really weak and can barely move her arm, Beth?” Carl tried not to smile at the face Murphy made when mentioning the 17-year-old. “Tyreese and you would be the ones in charge of taking care of them, we need you out there Carl, that is no lie.”

Carl sighed, nodding his head. Murphy let out a big breath, finally letting himself pull the boy into a hug. “Atta boy, now remember what I told you…” He pulled back so he could look right into his eyes. “Every bullet that you fire from that gun of yours, if it’s intended for a living person… you have to make sure they deserve it, remember that… to take a life, that’s something you can’t really fix my boy, please be careful.”

Carl nodded solemnly. Murphy smiled at him, moving to stand up and start to make his way out. “See you later, lad.”

“See you, Murph.”

-.-.-.-.-

“Everything ready?” Connor asked as he watched Carol zip the only bag she had yet to finish packing beforehand, which was Daryl’s. Carol looked up at him, giving him a small smile as she shouldered the bag. “Hey,” Connor said as he grabbed her arm softly, stopping her in front of him. “We’ll get through this.”

“I know.” He couldn’t help but chuckle and pull her close for a kiss, the complete faith he saw in her blue eyes as he looked at her just made him unable to stop himself from kissing her. Her thin fingers, once delicate but now calloused by the use of weapons and hard work, entangled in his hair as he held her as close to him as he was able to.

Her breathing was labored when he pulled back to be able to look down at her. As much as they had gone through in the last few days, this, whatever that it was between them, was all new and he was a good Catholic boy. He would never push anything onto her that she didn’t want to. For him it was all about being close to her, he had never appreciated the act of kissing a person, but her? She was something else. He had always been affectionate with Murphy, and that was it. But there was just something different, there was the need to have her close and wrapped in his arms; the need to make her feel loved and cherished.

“Well, well, well…” Carol’s head turned to the side, a chuckle leaving her mouth as she burrowed her face under Connor’s chin as she watched the smile on Murphy’s face and the look on Daryl’s as the two of them looked at them from the doorway. “That was definitely not ‘picking up the bags’, or did that looked like ‘picking up the bags’ to you Decks?”

Carol was sure she was all kind of shades of red. The feel of Connor’s arms around her, as his big hand ran up and down her back and the smell that was all his while she rested against his chest was not helping much.

“I was picking up the bags,” Carol finally found her voice as the two men made their way inside the cell. She shouldered Daryl’s bag once more and moved again from Connor’s reach, smiling even more as she heard the small whine he let out as she did so.

“Look, here’s Connor’s.” She picked up a bag and shoved it into Connor’s arms.

“Here’s yours…” as she picked the one belonging to Murphy and moved to pass it to him; Murphy grabbed her by the waist and planted a kiss on her mouth. Her surprise yelp at the sudden movement was used to his advantage by the middle triplet and he used the opportunity to take the kiss a little further than the one with Connor had been.

“I see what you mean, those bags are sure something else.” Murphy grinned even more when she shoved the bag into his stomach a little harder than she needed to, laughing as she stole a peck before moving towards Daryl who although was still in the cell was looking at the door as if he was about to bolt.

“Daryl,” her sweet voice made him look down at her. There was a soft smile on her face that he couldn’t help but return; they were about to engage in a fight he had some doubts about their odds, and here was their women making him smile in the middle of it all. “Here.”

He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was. He had truly expected her to just pass him the bag she had packed for him, but as she did, she didn’t let go of it. She used the bag to bring him closer to her, and standing on her tiptoes putting a hand on the side of his neck to keep balance, she softly kissed him. While it was not the deep kiss that Connor got, or the playful one that she and Murphy shared; it was exactly what he needed.

Time had seemed to stop as he kissed her. He hadn’t notice how his brothers had approached them, and when she stood on her two feet once again she was standing in the middle of the three men. _Her_ men.

Connor was the first one to move. He opened his arms so he could hug each of his brothers to his side. He patted Daryl’s shoulder softly as he felt the younger man tense slightly, smiling as he felt his brother relax after a moment. Carol was still standing her front to Daryl, so he moved until he was resting his forehead against the side of her head. His brother’s followed his example, without them having to say a word.

“Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle.” Connor’s voice was steady and it didn’t leave a doubt that he was truly asking from the deepest part of his soul. “Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.”

“Amen.” Both Carol and Murphy joined him at the end. Daryl didn’t know what to feel. The way his brother prayed, the way they spoke about God was something he didn’t understand. But if that God, if those Angels and Saints could help them at least a little bit? If they could keep the three people encompassed within his arms safe? He would become the most devout of them all.

-.-.-.-.-.-

 

The ones that were staying and fighting, were all sitting in the common space from cell block C waiting for the moment to signal to scramble around. It was silent, everyone completely focused on what their task was going to be, there was no chatter going around the room.

Rick would pace the space up and down, stopping to check his gun once in a while before starting again. To Carol, he seemed like a caged animal anxious to be allowed out. She sighed and dropped her head on Connor’s arm, from where she was sitting between him and Connor. There was nothing left to do but wait.

Daryl was standing across from them, her sweet embarrassed Daryl from earlier was gone and badass Daryl was in place. While Connor and Murphy were sitting with her, as if they needed her as much as she needed them to feel grounded. Daryl was standing a little further away, his eyes drifting to them once in awhile, gifting her with barely visible lifts of the corner of his mouth that she knew were the equivalent to smiles; but he kept his space, needing it to be prepared to do what he was required to do.

His eyes found hers as he rested his head against the wall at his back. The fact that he was sustaining eye contact with her, that was something that meant the world to her. The Daryl from one year ago? The Daryl that had saved her from joining Sophia after she came out of the barn? That Daryl could barely allow himself to sit in silence around her… this Daryl, _her_ Daryl was such a different man from that one, but at the same time he was still the same kind hearted redneck that had hid under layers upon layers of anger so he would not get hurt anymore.

He was the first one to raise his head and turn towards the windows, breaking eye contact with her. It took her a couple of seconds to hear whatever that he was hearing, and by then everyone else had noticed his tense posture and without saying a thing; at the whistle he let out they all scrambled to reach their positions.

Everything happened so fast, that she barely had a chance to give Daryl a last look, patting Murphy’s and Connor’s thighs as the three of them moved away from each other. She was glad the three of them were going to stay together, she knew that they would look out for each other.

Maggie was waiting for her at the door that led to the control room. The two of them had their guns with them, although their job in itself wasn’t to directly approach the intruders. But it was better to be safe than sorry. They ran all the way there, closing the door behind them and barricading themselves in.

“Do you have everything we need?” Maggie asked as she started to pace inside the room, her hands shaking as she tried not to think of whatever that was going on outside.

“Yes.  Now we just have to wait.” Carol patted the place next to her  where she had jumped up to sit on. Maggie shook her head, she had too much pent up energy to sit still. If it hadn’t been for the fact that they didn’t have enough protective gear, she would have chosen to be out there with Glenn, Ben and Sasha.

Logically, she knew it was better that Carol wasn’t on her own. If for some reason this didn’t work, they each were wearing their respective bags that the older woman had packed for them; with a plan to meet two towns over within the next three days. So it was logical for every one of them to be in pairs.

The sound of something exploding made Maggie’s trigger finger twitch. Carol looked calm, as she looked towards the closed door and shook her head. “It’s too far away…” they were in the back of the prison, “and that didn’t sound like a flash grenade.”

“You know a lot about what they sound like?” Maggie asked with a smirk on her face, watching as the older woman blushed slightly.

“Connor and Murph explained it to me,” Carol said under her breath, before looking up at Maggie from under her lashes and biting her lip. The slight blush that appeared on her face at the smirk Maggie was giving her made the younger woman chuckle.

“I’m sure they did.”

There was a second explosion, and they looked at each other. It was not time for games, the people they loved the most were out there, and they needed to make sure this worked. Carol stood up, knowing it was almost time. She looked down at her clock, and counted the seconds. Connor and Daryl had more or less timed how long it would take the Governor and his people to get into position, they still had a couple of minutes but it was almost show time.

“Two minutes,” she said to Maggie as she felt her eyes on hers. She was looking at the light up console in front of her. As soon as they heard the first bang of the grenade she was to open first the locks, and then turn the inside alarm on. That was why she was here, and she was going to do it. She was going to keep her boys alive doing her part.

“There!” Maggie said as soon as the loud bang of the grenade was heard. She hit the two buttons in the order she was supposed to and the two of them moved until they were right by the door. Carol could see Maggie’s eyes get bigger as they heard the screams and the shots being fired. They kept their position. They had been told not to move until one of the four people down there, Rick, Daryl, Connor, or Murphy came over and signaled them it was safe.

They would know the plan didn’t work if someone else came over, and in that case there were to leave through the air vents that led directly out towards the inner yard where the breach had originally been.

Silence fell upon them quickly, the shots being fired started to sound further and further away, towards the front of the prison where Glenn was. The two of them jumped when someone started banging on the door they were both leaning against.

“Love! Open up!” The moment Carol heard Murphy’s voice, it was like something had busted inside her chest. She alone pushed the desk they had used to barricade the door away, threw open the door and launched herself into his arms.

“Even if this is the welcoming I get, I don’t want to be away from you any more than necessary.” Carol had to close her eyes as she heard his words being muttered by her ear. She shared his feeling.

“Come on,” Maggie said breaking the small moment, clearly anxious to see how her husband was doing. Carol pulled away from Murphy, both of them letting each other go, their hands on their own weapons but staying near each other.

“How did it go?” Maggie asked as they hurried down the corridor.

“As we expected, they had no idea of what they were doing, they were running out like headless chickens when I came to look for you.”

They met Rick, Daryl and Connor in the hallway leading to cell block C a few minutes later; and Maggie gave her a smile before continuing on her way back with Rick fast on her heels.

“Are you hurt?” Carol asked as she approached Connor and Daryl, letting the oldest sibling pull her into his arms as soon as she was within reach.

She couldn’t help but unconsciously pat Connor on the back and sides as he hugged her to him, as if making sure he was in fact not hurt. “I’m good, love, they didn’t get even close.”

Daryl chuckled as he watched her with his brother, not having put his crossbow down although they were technically in a safe zone. “Don’t laugh about it, she’s going to turn on you soon.” Murphy had barely finished his words when Daryl was on the end of Carol’s scrutiny. She knew better than to just launch herself into his arms, but she was looking him up and down as if he was trying to actively hide something.

“Stop,” Daryl muttered as he felt his face and ears start to redden from her gaze once again while she looked at him from head to toe.

“Yes, stop Carol…” Daryl looked away from her to glare at Murphy that was now standing next to Carol and had thrown an arm over her shoulders, “you are making little bittle Decks here blush. Just tell him you do like what you see.”

“You alright?” Her voice was soft but strong, as she met his eyes once again without letting Murphy’s words rile her up.

“Nine lives, remember?” The smile he got as an answer to him using her words made him smile back.

“And Muffin here is right, I do like what I see.”

-.-.-.-.

It was decided, they were going back to Woodbury. Carol looked over her shoulder as she took baby Judith from Beth, letting the girl free to go and hug her older sister. Hershel looked morose, as Tyreese went to look for Sasha.

“I want to go,” Andrea spoke up as she made her way to where Rick was trying to talk to Carl. Rick looked up, frowning as if he had forgotten that the other woman existed.

“We don’t know what’s waiting for us there.”

“You don’t know the place like I do.”

“She’s right, Rick.” All the eyes went to Daryl as he spoke up, surprise was evident in more than one member of their family but not for those that knew him. “We don’t know what we’re going to find, but she could be what makes a difference.”

Rick took a deep breath, looking at the people around him. This was his family, and they were doing this to protect it.

“You said that I would be welcomed back if I left him, well, I did…” Andrea looked better than she had that morning- there was color on her cheeks and her voice was strong. “I have friends back there, good people, that I’m not willing to leave behind.”

Daryl flinched slightly at her last words. In the end, they had left her behind. He had tried to talk Rick into going back, into letting him go back to look for her. But he hadn’t allowed it. And he regretted following that command every day for the last eight months.

“I’ll have her back,” Michonne spoke up from the side of the room. The smile Andrea sent Michonne was not returned, but at least her friend was willing to spend time with her once more.

“You all go,” Carol said softly to her men as she approached where they were standing. The three of them seemed to have fallen into the pattern of just gravitating around each other that was so natural  she couldn’t help but wonder if this was how it would have been if they hadn’t been separated.

“Murphy should stay here with you.” Connor said as the four of them made their own small circle, talking in low voices as everyone else moved around them.

“No, don’t get separated, we’ll be fine here, they’re not coming back here.”

“Maybe…” Carol shook her head as she saw Daryl start to fidget as he spoke.

“No, we’ll be fine; you need to watch each other’s backs. Come back to me.” She looked at each of them as she grabbed Connor’s hand and entwined their fingers. They would come back, for her.

.-.-.-

The had taken two cars. The green car they took everywhere held Michonne, Andrea, and Rick; and the pickup truck with the brothers in it. Daryl was driving, with Murphy as copilot and Connor sitting in the middle of the backseat.

“I don’t like leaving her alone back there,” Murphy said as he looked back at where Connor was, before his eyes moved to the side of Daryl’s face.

“None of us do, Murph,” Connor answered as he clasped Murphy’s shoulder, “but she’s right, they have enough people to protect the prison, and we do need to do this.”

“We need to kill the motherfucker,” Daryl muttered as he changed gears looking over his shoulder to see if the little green car was keeping up.

“So…” Daryl threw a look from the side of his eye as Murphy started saying, “what we saw means that you still haven’t gotten some tongue action from Carol?”

Connor started howling with laughter as Daryl’s face immediately went ten different shades of red. The youngest brother glared at Murphy, while him and Connor continued laughing their asses off at his reaction.

“Shut up,” Daryl muttered, looking back to the road. The two passengers were starting to finally calm down, only to be set off again by his words.

“Shut the fuck up,” Daryl said again, taking his hand off the stick to throw a punch to Murphy’s arm. Connor laughed even harder as Murphy yelped when the hit made contact, and he glared at a slightly smug looking Daryl.

“Jesus Christ,” Connor’s shocked words made the identical triplets finally look back into the road from where they had been glaring at each other. Daryl hit the brakes and the three of them lurched forward as the truck skidded to a stop.

“What the fuck happened,” Daryl muttered as the three of them opened the doors in synch, their guns and crossbow up and at the ready as they jumped down from the vehicle.

Daryl took aim and fired at a walker that was kneeling in the middle of the road eating what was left of a person; a little distance away was one of the trucks the people from Woodbury had been driving.  Connor moved to get rid of the next walker with his knife, while Daryl reloaded and killed the one next to it.

Murphy looked over at Rick and the rest of them as the noise of the car doors sounded behind them. Their faces looked as shocked as he knew theirs were. They all moved in silence, Michonne using her katana to get rid of two walkers at the same time as Rick did his share.

The three brothers were standing close, Daryl was looking up and down the road with his back to the truck. “Fuck!” Daryl said as he threw himself to the side when he heard a hard thud behind him, his heart beating a mile a minute. When he looked up, his brothers were pointing their guns at whatever had sneaked up on him.

Daryl stood up quickly, pulling out his knife as he frowned while opening the door and pulling a woman, a live woman, out of the truck. Rick had made his way to them by now, his python already up and pointing at the woman’s head.

“What the hell happened?” Murphy asked as soon as they checked that the woman was in fact alone, and unarmed.

“Andrea!” The woman yelled as she threw her arms around the blonde, “he killed them all, he killed them all.”

Andrea looked at Michonne from over the woman’s shoulder, her arms wrapped around her already. “Who killed them, Karen?” Andrea’s voice was calm, while her insides twisted and turned at the words she knew were going to come out of Karen’s mouth.

“The Governor.”

“What?!” Andrea pushed the woman away, her hands on her arms as she peered down into her dark eyes.

“He was mad, because we had run…” she looked terrified as she let her eyes roam around her. “He tried to make us go bad, we didn’t want to.” She stopped to take a deep breath, as she looked at the people around her for the first time. She seemed to realize with whom she was speaking with, as she took a couple of steps away from Andrea and hugged her arms around herself. “We were arguing, and he just lost it.”

“What did he do?” It was Rick’s stern voice that finally did it for her.

“He opened fire against everyone, we tried to run but he gunned down every single one of us.” She took a deep breath, as tears ran down her face, “he then made sure most of us didn’t turn, I was lying under someone, he ran out of bullets just as he was about to shoot me.”

Andrea had heard enough, she moved closer to Karen and drew her into her arms again. She silently started to lead her back into the car; they had seemed to have found a new member to their group.

“Are we pushing through?” Michonne asked as soon as Karen was out of hearing range, approaching the side of the military truck and the rest of their group.

“If he has any brains, he won’t be going back to Woodbury, he slaughtered most of his own army.” Connor said between clenched teeth. They would find that son of a bitch, and they would send his soul down to hell.

“We go to Woodbury, we finish this today.”

-.-.-.-.

Carol tried not to drive the rest of the people left at the prison crazy with her pacing, so she took it outside. They had been gone for many hours by then; the sun had started to come up from behind the top of the trees of the woods surrounding the prison, and as much of a brave face she had put up for them; she was terrified.

What had happened to Daryl the day before yesterday, with Merle’s death, she knew her sweet archer would never be able to handle if something happened to one of his newfound brothers. And as someone that had seen how Murphy had been the day before, when Connor had left to go with Daryl without him, the idea of the three of them being apart was just ludicrous. But that didn’t mean she was not terrified of something happening to them; _she_ had no idea of what she would do if something happened to any of them.

Her feelings for the triplets still scared her, but what she had told Murphy, that was the truth. The three of them were burrowed so deep inside her, they were ingrained into her soul. The night before last, sleeping with the three of them wrapped around her; it had been the first time since those nights spent just with her Sophia that she had felt at home. Even more, it was the first time ever she had felt completely and utterly safe.

The thoughts of her little girl still sent a pang through her heart; she would have adored the three men that owned her heart, she was sure of that. And she would have been loved by them. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the red and orange sky, letting the first rays of sun warm her skin. There had been moments in the past eight months that she had sincerely thought it would have been better for her to join her Sophia than to continue life without her. Now? Now she knew that her little girl had somehow sent her those three angels to help her fill the void left by her absence.

There was a sad smile on her face as she let one lone tear run down her cheek for her sweet Sophia.

The sound of vehicles approaching brought her out of her reverie, as she shouldered her rifle and made her way towards the inner gate. The moment between when they were able to hear the vehicles and when they were able to see them was always the hardest, a huge weight leaving her shoulders as she saw the pickup truck driven by Daryl make its way across the prison yard.

_Her boys were back._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it... my first multichapter story is officially completed. 
> 
> I want to thank every single one of you, those that stayed with me to the very end. All your messages kept me going, the asks I got in tumblr, the comments here, the DM, everything. 
> 
> I want to thanks especially some of the new friends I made because of this story. Lovesdaryl, memoriesinatrunk, my beta onequarterbritish... thank you guys for being soundboards when i needed and for your friendship...


	16. 30 Days Without an Accident

Chapter I

30 Days Without an Accident

 

Daryl woke up right before dawn, as he did every morning.  He yawned as he tried to get his mind to quiet down for once, wanting to stop the restlessness that had him up and running early every morning so he could stay right where he was for a few more minutes. As he closed his mouth he sputtered as a few strands of hair, that were definitely not his, ended up inside of his mouth. 

“Asshole,” he muttered as he pushed Murphy away from where he had been sprawled over him. He rolled his eyes as he heard his brother grunt before somehow moving until he had his face burrowed in Carol’s chest. 

The smile on Daryl’s face couldn’t be confused with anything other than what it was. Happiness. Slowly, and with a lot more care than how he had pushed Murphy away, he detangled his legs from where they had been trapped in between Carol’s and stood up. 

The prison had started to warm up again. He usually ran hot, as apparently did his brothers, so they had all started to sleep shirtless much to Carol’s delight. The thick blanket that they had hung to serve them as a door was always closed, and people knew better than just barge into their cell.  

He ran a hand through his hair as he approached the blanket, moving it a little bit to let a few rays of light enter their private sanctuary. 

He stretched as he looked back at where his family laid and couldn’t help but feel his heart clench at the picture they made. They had a rough idea of how much time had passed since they had found each other, six months more or less. And he couldn’t imagine living his life like he had been before they came into it. Carol was sleeping in between the two jackasses that were his brothers, the two of them having arrived to their ‘room’ in the middle of the night after their shift guarding the fences was done.  

Silently, as he only could, he gathered his shirt, vest, boots and crossbow. He had a job to do, and it was early enough that if he got lucky he would be able to get back before they woke. 

He sent a look at his family as he left their cell, the run they had been planning was supposed to take place that afternoon. He sent a prayer to his siblings and his woman’s God to give them some help. But before, he needed to catch them something to eat.  

 

_ Carol and her boys will be back in the second story of the series, Even Darkness Must Pass, the rewrite of season 4.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this little teaser.... first chapter of the new story will be posted on the first Tuesday of September.... 
> 
> As usual, you know where you can find me... come on over and chat... I love to talk about everything (especially headcanons... ) [Find me in Tumblr as Geektaire](http://geektaire.tumblr.com)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr as [Geektaire](http://geektaire.tumblr.com/) drop in if you ever feel like leaving me a message, a prompt or just to say hi! I'm thinking of doing outtakes of just moments about this four characters, so prompts are accepted and well.. I'm there if you guys wanna just chat or something... :)


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